Fallen hero Kyaram Sloyan would have turned 26 today
Today, April 27, marks the birthday anniversary of Kyaram Sloyan, a Yezidi-Armenian soldier who was killed in the 2016 April war in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). The fallen hero would have turned 26 today.
Kyaram was among dozens of Armenian soldiers who died while fighting back a large-scale Azerbaijani offensive against Artsakh launched on April 2.
Captain Armenak Urfanyan and his men, who were holding a military position in the Martakert district, successfully repelled the Azerbaijani attacks twice. Realizing that it was no longer possible to resist the enemy exceeding in number and military equipment, the commander decided to continue the fight alone, ordering his soldiers to retreat.
However, Kyaram Sloyan as well as his fellow soldiers Robert Abajyan and Andranik Zohrabyan refused to retreat and fell with their commander.
After his death Kyaram was beheaded, with videos and pictures showing Azerbaijani soldiers posing with his severed head posted on social media.
On 28 May 2016, Kyaram Sloyan was posthumously awarded with the First Degree Order of the Combat Cross of Armenia.