12:37,

YEREVAN, MARCH 18, ARMENPRESS. A commander of a training battalion of the Defense Army is under arrest on charges of insubordination and desertion, the Committee of Investigations said.

According to the investigators, Commander I. Vahanyan disobeyed his superior’s orders during combat operations in the 2020 Artsakh War and deserted the battlefield. According to investigators the commander’s actions led to casualties in his battalion, with some troops getting killed, others getting wounded or taken captive.

Vahanyan is in pre-trial detention.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan