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Ani Sargsyan

Trdat Musheghyan

Family of Engineering Platoon Commander Taron Nikoghosyan Awaits Positive ID of His Body

Tatev Galstyan and Taron Nikoghosyan got married in 2015. 

Captain Taron Nikoghosyan died on October 9 in the village of Ishkhanadzor in the Kashatagh region of Artsakh. His body has not yet been found. He was 28 years old. 

Tatev now wears his wedding ring.  

Taron Nikoghosyan was born in Geghadir, a village in Armenia’s Aragatzotn Province. He was the middle of three sons. He chose the military as his profession, following the example of his older brother. His mother, Armanoush Nikoghosyan, says that they did not have the opportunity to educate their sons, even though they   wanted their children to pursue one. Since the government pays for military institute tuition, Taron's older brother was admitted to the Monte Melkonian Military School. It was there, at the swearing in ceremony, that young Taron was inspired to join the ranks of the military.

Later, following his older brother, Taron entered the Armenak Khanperyants Military Aviation Institute. He then told the examination commission that he wanted to pursue his military education in Russia. He was admitted in 2010 and in 2015 graduated from the Tyumen Higher Military Engineering Command College.

Taron's wife, Tatev, is from the town of Armavir. She met Taron through mutual friends. Taron's classmate was Tatev’s girlfriend's fiancé, and the latter told Taron about Tatev.

"He wrote to me on the Internet, saying he is from Aparan’s Geghadir village and that he wants to meet me. That day, I went to a wedding and caught the bouquet thrown by the bride.  That's how we started communicating,” says Tatev.

In December 2014, Taron returned to Armenia on holiday.  He met Tatev’s parents. The family spent New Year’s together. Taron returned to Tyumen to complete the last six months of study. After returning, he was deployed to the Agarak Military Unit. 

Taron and Tatev married in 2015 and lived in Agarak until the start of last year’s 44-day war in Artsakh.

Taron's parents and younger brother have lived in the Kotayk village of Yeghvard since 2018. His older brother lives in Russia and serves in the Russian army.

The couple has two sons, four-year-old Aram and one-year-old Vahe.  

Captain Taron Nikoghosyan was the commander of an engineering platoon. On October 1, they received the order to leave for Artsakh. They served in Mekhakavan (Jabrayil) until October 1 and then returned to Ishkhanadzor.

Tatev says her husband and seventeen other personnel were killed when an Azerbaijani drone hit a vehicle they were travelling in. There were nineteen in the truck. The father of one of those killed told her what had happened.  

A criminal case has been initiated regarding the incident. The deputy commander of the military unit who ordered the deployment of the vehicle, despite the obvious threat of AUVs, has been arrested.

Taron Nikoghosyan's name was published in the list of victims on October 11, 2020. 

Tatev says that on the day of the incident, the bodies of all eighteen victims were brought to Goris. They were transferred to Yerevan the next day. The relatives of seventeen of those killed have claimed their bodies, but Taron's body has not been identified yet. His mother and eldest son took a DNA test twice, but no correlation was found.

Taron’s family hopes that a dental examination will resolve the matter.

Tatev says that before the war, in May, Taron was rarely at home. He was always engaged in engineering work.

"It can be said that we have not seen him since May. He came home on September 22 and the war started on September 27,” says Tatev, recalling that Taron was a very caring husband and father, always wanting to finish work early so that he could spend as much time with his family.

 On the day of his death, two hours before the drone strike, he called his wife and said, "I love you very much, I will call you later, do not worry."

"I also saw my child during his military leaves. He was in Tyumen for five years, and after that he worked another five. For those ten years, I saw my child ten or fifteen days a year, the last time in April. It can be said that my child left with longing,” says Taron Nikoghosyan's mother, Armanoush Nikoghosyan.

Glancing at her eldest grandson, Aram, Mrs. Nikoghosyan says, “"His father won’t return from the front.  The boy says he must become a soldier, grow up, and bring his father back.”

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