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“Tell my son Hovik he is set to take care of the family and the fatherland from now on,” were the last words of Lt. Colonel Onik Grigoryan who fell victim during the Aril war in 2016. Today, Grigoryan would have turned 42.

Onik Grigoryan fell on April 2. The group of five commanding officers, Lt. Colonels Aleksan Arakelyan, Onik Grigoryan, Roman Poghosyan, Major Suren Melkumyan, and senior lieutenant Maxim Grigoryan, rushed for help to the serviceman, performing their service on the frontline at the112nd defense post.
In severe fighting against the Azeri special units, the brave officers inflicted considerable losses on enemy’s manpower, thwarted their infiltration attempt into the defense zone of the Armenian forces.   

Displaying exceptional self-sacrifice and courage, all the member of the group heroically fell during the severe fighting. To remind, overnight to April 1-2 all 19 serviceman of the mentioned military posts were killed while defensing the fatherland. 

Onik Grigoryan was born in 1978 in the village of Khramort (Askeran) in the family of a commander of local self-defense forces, Karo Grigoryan, who took an active role in the liberation of his native village from Azerbaijanis in 1993. A graduate of the Artsakh Institute of Physical Culture, Onnik followed the footsteps of his father, and joined the military as a career officer.

He left behind his two children – 16-year-old Tatev and 11-year-old Hovhannes.
For his diligent service Onik Grigoryan was awarded the Medal of “Admiral Isakov, the Medal "For Service in Battle" of the Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic, “Nelson Stepanyan,” “RA ARF 20 Anniversary,” Medals as well as received numerous letters of commendation.

For exceptional courage, self-sacrifice and skills demonstrated while defensing and ensuring the security of the motherland Onik Grigoryan was awarded posthumously the first-class Order of the Combat Cross by the President of Armenia and the medal "For Courage" by the President of the Artsakh Republic.