On the morning of May 27, 2021, Azerbaijani media outlets, and then the Armenian  Ministry of Defense, announced that six Armenian soldiers were captured by Azerbaijani forces while conducting engineering work along the Gegharkunik border with Azerbaijan.

The Armenian Ministry of Defense later published the names of the captured contract servicemen - A. Abgaryan, I. Sargsyan, V. Sargsyan, B. Ohanyan, A. Budoyan and V. Rafaelyan.

The Defense Ministry, in its statement, denied Azerbaijani allegations that the servicemen were in Azerbaijani territory when captured. Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated at the May 27 sitting of the Government that Armenian servicemen had been abducted from the territory of Armenia.

On June 1, Hetq sent a request to Acting Minister of Defense Vagharshak Harutyunyan regarding the circumstances of the servicemen's captivity and work underway to have them returned.

Hetq asked why the Armenian servicemen offered no resistance if, as claimed, they were in Armenia territory at the time.

On the same day, May 27, newly appointed Armenian Deputy Chief of General Staff Edward Asryan stated at a press conference that Armenia had submitted a deadline to Azerbaijan for the return of the captives and that consultations had begun in Baku.

In our inquiry to the acting Minister of Defense, we sked about what progress such consultations had achieved.

Hetq also inquired about the total number of Armenian POWs held by Azerbaijan and the steps taken by Armenia to facilitate their release. We wanted to know if Armenia was in direct communication with Azerbaijan on the matter.

We also wanted to know if the Armenian Defense Ministry knew exactly how many Azerbaijani troops were stationed on Armenian territory at the time of our inquiry.

 According to Armenia’s “Law on Freedom of Information” government agencies have five working days to answer written inquiries and can request a thirty-day reply deadline but must specify the reason for such an extension.

In its reply on June 7, the Ministry of Defense requested a 30-day period, noting that additional research was needed to provide the requested information.

On June 24, the Ministry of Defense provided a one sentence reply to Hetq.

"In response to your, 01.06.2021, to the inquiry addressed to the Acting Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, I would like to inform you that we will answer your questions in detail after ensuring the stabilization of the situation on the line of contact with the enemy and ensuring the comprehensiveness of the relevant study.” The reply was signed by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Defense Artur Sargsyan.

In essence, the Ministry of Defense has nothing in the way of a reply, which is more surprising since on June 12, fifteen Armenian prisoners were returned to Armenia, including four of the six servicemen captured on May 27.

If a reply was not forthcoming from the start, what was the point of asking for a thirty-day deadline?

Perhaps the ministry automatically requests thirty days for all inquiries, regardless of how long it takes to respond.

Moreover, in recent months, the Ministry of Defense has been responding only to disseminated misinformation by publishing hasty messages, some of which are sometimes questioned due to other developments.

We are not going to spread misinformation so that the Ministry of Defense addresses them, but nevertheless, we hope that the ministry will start acting as transparently as possible and will not leave questions unanswered.

Such an approach only leads to further rumor and new suppositions.