Tragedy in Gyumri: Six Members of Family Killed, Suspect Detained at Turkish Border

GYUMRI, Armenia (ArmRadio.am)–“Russian border guards have detained Valery Permyakov, the Russian deserter suspected of killing a family of six in Gyumri, near the village of Bayandur,” Prosecutor of Shirak Province Raffi Aslanyan told GALA TV on Jan. 12.

According to preliminary information, Permyakov was trying to cross the Armenian-Turkish border. The Prosecutor said the suspect is currently being held by Russian officials at that country’s military base in Gyumri.

Murder suspect Valery Permyakov allegedly killed six members of a family
Murder suspect Valery Permyakov allegedly killed six members of a family

A manhunt was underway in the Shirak region of Armenia for Permyakov, who deserted his post at the 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri and went on a rampage, killing six members of an Armenian family, among them a two-year old girl, on Jan. 12. A six-month old infant survived the attack but is in critical condition at a local hospital, news agencies reported.

“Military boots with the name and surname of the serviceman have been found at the site,” said Sona Truzyan, spokesperson of the Investigative Committee of Armenia. An AK 74 rifle and 5.45 mm caliber shells have also been found.

Truzyan identified the murder victims as Seryozha Avetisyan, Hasmik Avetisyan, Armen Avetisyan, Araksya Avetisyan, Aida Avetisyan, Hasmik Avetisyan (2 years old), and Seryozha Avetisyan (6 months old).

The Police said they are investigating the crime together with representatives from the military base.

Infant ‘saved by miracle’

Six months-old Seryozha Avetisyan was operated on after being hospitalized in the wake of the violent act. His condition is estimated as stable. The head of Gyumri’s Australian hospital, Ashot Kurghinyan, told the state news agency Armenspress that the infant was in critical condition, with stab wounds in the chest.

“The infant was found on the mother’s dead body; the perpetrator probably thought he was dead, whereas he had been breathing. The child was hospitalized late; he was in shock, cold, and almost bloodless,” Kurghinyan said, adding that he finds the successful surgery a miracle.

“Yes, we can now say that the infant was saved by a miracle, but his condition continues to remain grave but stable. He is surviving the shock and is in the intensive care department switched to an artificial breathing aid. We are hopeful he will be strong enough to overcome it,” he added.

“I guess the infant was brought to us four or even five hours after the incident. He was in that condition for such a long time; there was a loss of blood and so on. Seeing that the infant’s vital organs are not essentially damaged, we can make positive forecasts, but it is too early to speak with guarantees today,” the doctor added.

Sarkisian holds urgent consultation

President Serge Sarisian on Monday held urgent consultations with the heads of law-enforcement bodies regarding the heinous murder.

Sarkisian stressed the importance of ascertaining the details of the case, detaining the guilty and holding them accountable.

The leadership of the Russian Military Base in Gyumri is cooperating with the Armenian law-enforcement bodies and is providing practical support to the investigation of the case.

Sarkisian also offered his condolences to the relatives of the victims and said he shared the sorrow and pain of the family.

Russian Embassy issues statement

The Russian Embassy in Armenia issued a statement on Jan. 12 about the murders, expressing shock and offering all resources in the ongoing investigation of the crime.

“We are shocked by this terrible crime. We mourn with the Armenian people. We offer our condolences to the families and friends of the victims,” read the statement. “The perpetrators of this vicious crime should be given the most severe punishment.”

“The relevant bodies of the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation are taking all necessary measures with a view of ensuring a fair and comprehensive investigation of the incident,” added the statement. “The investigative groups are coordinating efforts in full compliance with the Agreement of the Presence of the 102nd Russian military base on the territory of the Republic of Armenia.”

Armenia’s Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian had a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoygu on Jan. 12, while Armenia’s Deputy Defense Minister David Tonoyan, spoke to his Russian counterpart.

Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan met with the Russian Ambassador to Armenia Ivan Volynkin.

He stressed that the Russian military base in Gyumri was cooperating with the Armenian law-enforcement bodies and was providing the necessary assistance.

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20 Comments

  1. my prayers go to the family and the 6 month old baby, and for the inhumane murder I am sure he well never see the light, as a Armenian Christian I can not use the words I want to use.

  2. The Russian government should pay full compensation to the family
    of the little child that survived.This is not the first time.A child was killed by a bomb while he was playing a few years ago close to the army camp. Did the family got full compensation?.Another time Russian soldiers in Guymry had fired on some people. Did those people got compensation by the Russian army.It seems that the Russian can do anything they want in Armenia, and the Armenian government doesn’t do anything about it .Are these our Russian allies ,we should kick the entire Russian army out of Armenia.If we had a good economy and no monopoly, and justice , our Armenian boys wouldn t have left Armenia and we would have had enough Armenian boys in our army.We wouldn t have needed the Russians.It s time to replace our good for nothing government.

    • Richard,

      If you have a large enough group of soldiers, in this case several thousand at the Russian base, you’re bound to get a few idiots in the bunch. It’s difficult to attribute the actions of this person to Russia itself. That would depend on how Russia treats this incident. If Russia does not punish and/or obstructs the investigation into this mass murder, then we know what they really think of Armenians.

      “The investigative groups are coordinating efforts in full compliance with the Agreement of the Presence of the 102nd Russian military base on the territory of the Republic of Armenia.”

      There appear to be agreements on how do deal with crimes committed by Russian soldiers in Armenia. If Russia doesn’t follow through on these agreements, then we have something to complain about.

  3. Russia has huge Muslim Tatar-Turks population, where easily can fit as Russian border guards, or serve at Gyumri military base!

  4. question has to be asked – WHY? did this happen.
    Was there a motive? were the Russian authorities aware about this persons intent or his total mental health state of mind?
    All in all it is a tragedy – the person should be punished for his crime.
    God bless the members of the family.

  5. Don’t politicize this terrible tragedy. This has nothing to do with Russian Armenian relations. Russians don’t have to give the criminal to Armenia as long as he gets very punished for what he did. But I agree that Russia has to compensate Armenia for the crime. Let’s also keep in mind that this murder of civilians could have been incited by foreigners to cause problems between Russia and Armenia. It’s always a possibility especially in this day in age.

    • According to this article:
      http://www.rferl.org/content/armenia-brutal-murder-case-tests-renewed-loyalty-to-moscow/26795702.html

      “But Armenian activists say the fact that Permyakov was taken into Russian custody violates the terms of a 1997 bilateral treaty stipulating that Russian military personnel who commit crimes outside the Gyumri base fall under Armenian jurisdiction.”

      If this is accurate then Russia should hand the soldier over to Armenian authorities to be tried in Armenian courts under Armenian law. The crime occurred outside the base.

      This will be a test of whether Russia respects its relations with Armenia.

      There is a large crowd protesting this in both Gyumri and Yerevan.

  6. Gurgen – “don’t politicize” really? tell Russia not to be an imperialistic bully. Russia is not our friend/ally/protector – never has been and quite probably will never be.

    what foreigners are you referring to?

    this is the time to rid ourselves of Russian dominance in our country once and for all. as stated above this is not the first time.
    if our “leadership” is unable to do that then they should join Permyakov in Russia.

    this is Russia’s saying to us “we can do what we want and get away with it while you stand by and watch” but the good people of Gyumri and throughout Armenia will not standby.

    you Putin/Rusophiles had your fun; but enough is enough. come to your senses and stand with the Armenian people.

  7. I hope this is followed up and reported further on as I to want to know the motivation behind killing an entire family to their very infant my prayers to the family if there are any left

  8. (Gokor Yegnukian // January 14, 2015 at 7:38 pm // )

    Hi Koko/Gokor:

    Long time no hear: how you been ?

    {“ Russia is not our friend/ally/protector – never has been and quite probably will never be.”}

    You are confused friend, or fan-clubbing for SorosaCadres.

     1993: NKR military has stemmed the tide of massive Turkbaijani invadonomad invasion and is chasing the Turkic goons out of historic Armenian lands. Neo-Nazi, genocidal Turkey, desperate to save their Turkic kin from impending crushing defeat, masses an invasion army at the border of RoA. Plan is to cut through Southern RoA and link up with the savages in Baku. Out of the blue, US, or was it France, or maybe UK, threatens Turks with war if they don’t get. Sorry, I lied: it was actually CIS head Shaposnikov (Russian) who told Turks they were looking at getting into WW3 if they didn’t high tail it out of there. Which they did.

     Battle of Sarikamish: Turks plan to invade South Caucasus and link up with their Turkic kin East of Armenia. Russian Imperial army pre-empts them by striking first. In the ensuing Battle of Sarikamish, Russian Imperial forces, aided by Armenian mobile brigades familiar with the terrain, crush and completely destroy the 3rd Turkish Army headed by the future mass murderer Enver Pasha. If not for the Russian Imperial army in the Caucasus at the time, few Armenians would be left there today, if any.

    {“ this is the time to rid ourselves of Russian dominance in our country once and for all”}

    Who is “us” ? You and 50 or so of your Գրանտակեր SorosaBuddies ?
    95% of Armenian electorate, via their representatives in the Parliament, voted to link “ourselves” with Russia and EEU.
    A unelected fringe minority is not going to tell 95% of Armenians what their country should or should not do.

    {“ if our “leadership” is unable to do that then they should join Permyakov in Russia.”}

    If our “friends” in Armenia are unable to accept the fact that the super-majority of RoA voters do not agree with their fringe minority views, maybe they should join their Neocon Turkophile buddies in the Neocon West (…say “Hello” to Neocon agent Saakhasvili, who sold his country to Turks and who is wanted for murder and treason in Georgia – when you get there).

    {“ you Putin/Rusophiles had your fun; but enough is enough. come to your senses and stand with the Armenian people.”}

    You SorosaCadres had your fun.
    Enough is enough.
    Come to your senses and stand with the super majority of the Armenian people, who reject you harebrained fringe schemes and the vain attempts to unleash a Maidan disaster in our sacred Armenia.

    Kind regards:
    Avery Putinski.

  9. (Richard // January 13, 2015 at 5:14 pm //)

    {“Are these our Russian allies ,we should kick the entire Russian army out of Armenia”}

    Predictably, certain individuals with an agenda, didn’t lose the opportunity to politicize a tragic, criminal act by a psychopath individual.
    Despicable.

    These kinds of things happen everywhere.
    In 2009, a US Army major and psychiatrist went nuts and fatally shot 13 people and injured more than 30 others on his army base at Fort Hood.
    Many years ago, a Russian soldier in a base on Sakhalin island went nuts and killed 7 fellow servicemen.
    Workplace massacres in US by disgruntled employees are tragically all too common.
    Look-up where the American expression “Going Postal” came from.

    Other random massacres are also all too common:
    Sandy Hook School massacre: 20 children and 6 adults murdered by a deranged lone gunman.
    Aurora movie theater massacre: 12 people murdered, 70 injured by a deranged lone gunman.
    Columbine High school massacre: 12 students and 1 teacher murdered by two students from the same school.
    …….

    {“our Armenian boys wouldn t have left Armenia and we would have had enough Armenian boys in our army. We wouldn t have needed the Russians”}

    Do you have any idea what you are talking about ?

    Turkey’s standing army alone has more troops than the entire fighting age male population of RoA.
    Turkey can draft millions of young men in a general mobilization, several times the entire population of RoA.
    RoA has neither tactical nukes to wipe out the incoming armor tide in a war with Turkey, nor air superiority to destroy the invasion force on the ground.
    So who is going to stop Turkey if it decides to invade Armenia in full force: keyboard warriors like you ?

    As to the general issue with this horrendous mass-murder.

    The soldier has apparently confessed, so he is done for.
    But heads should also roll at the military base: some senior officers need to be charged with criminal negligence, at the minimum.
    And procedural changes need to be made on the base so something like this cannot happen again.
    Also, Armenian side needs to dig deep to find out what led this guy to mass-murder this particular family:
    -He was in Gyumri for only a short time; how did he come to find the home of this particular family and murder them ? The house is apparently about 3 kilometers from the base: he walked all that distance to that house; why ?
    -Was he on drugs ? He changed his clothes at the crime scene, leaving lots of identification behind: not the actions of a rational guy. But he also remembers that his weapon jammed, and he stabbed his last victim: so he had the presence of mind. Things don’t add up.
    -Did he know the family before ?
    -Did someone induce this soldier to commit this mass-murder, i.e. did he do it on behalf of some 3rd parties ?

    And I do not know what agreement exists between RoA and Russia vis-à-vis what law Russian troops in RoA are subject to, but US troops in overseas bases are generally under US Military Uniform Code. Meaning, they are not subject to the laws of the host country.
    To wit, in 2002 a large US military vehicle accidentally (negligently) ran over two South Korean school girls walking by the road.
    They were crushed to death.
    The two American soldiers involved were not handed over to SK authorities. They were charged by the US Military.
    Both were found not guilty by a US military court martial. (South Koreans went ballistic at the time).

    One last thing: in 2013 an Armenian driver, RoA citizen, working in Russia, negligently plowed his overloaded, speeding dump truck into a Russian public bus.
    The bus was cut in half from the impact.
    18 people on the bus were killed instantly, including a mother and her infant child. At least 40 people were injured, some crippled for life.
    I do not recall you demanding that all RoA citizens working in Russia be kicked out, do you ?

    In November 2014, a truck plowed head-on into a passenger van on Gyumri-Yerevan Highway.
    The van exploded: 7 (Armenian) passengers were killed instantly and 7 hospitalized in serious condition.
    The (Armenian) truck driver was arrested and criminal charges lodged against him: where do we kick him out to ?

  10. With this case, ‘news’ outlets of the west like RFE/RL are having a field day taking pop shots at Russia, even though this case has nothing to do with Russia or Russian policy except that the Russian military certainly must take responsibility here for the unbelievable and insane actions of one of its troops.

    This case has shocked us all and it has so many unanswered questions. It also looks suspicious. Did this killer act on his own? If the killer was insane why didn’t he just start killing people when he left the base? Why did he try to make it look like he was a civilian? Did anyone have a conflict with this family where they wanted them all to die? etc etc etc. We will hopefully have the answers in due time.

    There was one thing that did bother me about Russia though. I think the Armenians there are doing the right thing demanding that this crazed lunatic be kept and tried in Armenia. I was disappointed at first to hear that Russia was going to ship the murderer home to be tried. This would be a big insult and very demeaning for Armenia in my opinion. The murders happened on Armenian soil, not Russian soil and not in the Russian base. For a fair trial, Gyumri or Armenia must determine what the charges and consequences will be, taking into account all the affected parties involved.

    To some Armenians also jumping on the “let’s bash Russia” bandwagon and calling for the removal of Russia: And what will you do if NATO-funded and approved Turkey with its massive military next starts massing its troops at the border? Are you going there by yourself to defend Armenia? Let’s be realistic here. I am not the biggest fan of Russia’s track-record with Armenia, but it does not take that much sense to realize that without Russia, Armenia would not be able to exist on its own. A big reason why? The NATO leaders are nowhere near caring about Armenians based on humanitarian reasons, or Armenia’s future for that matter. For pursuit of their comfort and profit, look what they did to Syria using their darling Turkey. For crying out loud, we can’t even get them to recognize the heinous mass murder through Genocide of our people against their favorite dirty-work implementing servant Turkey, so you think they’re going to care if Armenia ultimately exists or not? If Russia leaves, Armenia has a big fat zero to offer the west, in fact to them Armenia would be a nuisance. Yes, we live in that kind of evil world.

    I don’t know about how others feel, but personally I am thankful that today Russia is reverting back to its Christian roots rather than keeping with that wicked and awful Bolshevik charade. At least that is a light at the end of the tunnel, and for Armenia that can only be a win.

  11. As with others at this time my thoughts and prayers go out to the family and the surviving child of this terrible, terrible incident. The news is grievous.

  12. As Armenians and Russians fight, Turks and Azeris are impatiently watching and licking their lips. I’m with the people, I grieve for the losses, I want to see that monster jailed for life or executed for his crimes. With that said, every single provocateur in the crowed of protestors need to be arrested and dealt with properly.

  13. At the end of the day, had the 102nd base not been stationed in Armenia we would most probably have lost Artsakh and/or Armenia and our Russophobic cyberwarriors would be no where in sight.

  14. “The two American soldiers involved were not handed over to SK authorities. They were charged by the US Military.
    Both were found not guilty by a US military court martial. (South Koreans went ballistic at the time).”

    And what happens when Russia does the same with their soldier? Armenians everywhere will have every right to be very upset at Russia for protecting the soldier.

    The issue that’s been raised in Armenia is that the soldier should be tried in Armenian courts since the murders occurred off-base.

    The soldier did two things:
    1) deserted his post, which would be a violation of Russian military code or law, one would reasonably assume.
    2) murdered 6 people off the base on Armenian soil where Armenian criminal law is in effect.

    From what I’ve heard and read in the news, there is an agreement between Russia and Armenia that apply here and that Russia is supposed to hand the soldier over to Armenia if the crime is committed off base. Now I’m not 100% sure but that’s what’s being reported.

    The issue is that both the Russian and Armenian sides have the above two reasons to charge the soldier.

    I think the fear is that the soldier, in Russian custody, will get the milder reprimand for deserting his post and will be shipped back to Russia.

  15. Avery; as i said to you earlier if you wish to call me a grantager – follow the money trail and report to us otherwise shut the hell up. don’t spew your disinformation here. contact me directly at gokor@yegnukian.com

  16. Politicizing this horrible tragedy is not in Armenia’s interests. Russians are also shocked at what has taken place. We are not helping the situation by burning Russian flags and demanding that the 102n base gets shut down. What happened was a blow to Russian-Armenian alliance.

    Russia’s 102nd base is arguably the most important military factor in Armenia. The base acts as a tripwire against an invasion from Turkey. By securing Armenia’s western borders, the base also allows the Armenian military to concentrate its limited resources against a more manageable enemy, Azerbaijan. I would go as far as saying Armenia exists today because of the 102nd base.

    With that said, however, whoever or whatever was behind this horrible atrocity in Gyumri scored a major success against the 102nd base. This was a major success as far as damaging Russian-Armenian relations for many-many years to come. This was a major win for those who have been seeking to undermine Russian-Armenian relations and drive a wedge between Moscow and Yerevan.

    We all know that generally speaking Armenians are overly emotional, politically illiterate and very family oriented. You want to seriously piss-off an Armenian and make him do irrational, self-destructive acts, mess with his family. You want to see an Armenian go insane and turn his environment upside-down, mess with his family. Whoever or whatever was behind this massacre knew our people’s weaknesses well. The assault was thus directed against the Armenian family.

    Now, all of Washington’s shameless lemmings in Armenia will be enthusiastically exploiting this horrible tragedy toward self-serving political ends. Now, Turks and Azeris will be impatiently watching from the sidelines to see how self-destructive Armenians will get. Once more, I blame the Sargsyan’s “complimentary politics” for the volatility in Armenia because it has allowed Armenia to become saturated by Western-led mercenaries during the past twenty years. Consequently, predictably and alarmingly, we are now seeing a growing trend of Russophobia amongst the new generation of Armenians.

    If Russophobia goes mainstream within Armenian society, Armenia’s very existence will be at risk. And every single one of the anti-Russian protesters we have been seeing recently would be the first to flee to Russia as soon as the first Turkish army division crossed the Arax River…

  17. Mentally stable or not, the Russian soldier should be executed as perhaps Russia’s military leaders should be conducting mental tests along with the physical ones before recruiting these type of people. There are no guarantees more of these ‘unstable’ people don’t exist out there. Also, the Russian government should compensate to the Avetistan family for this unthinkable tragedy.

    Furthermore, if Russia plans to recruit tajikhis & turkmenis & such in their military, then this also calls for concerns as there might be future killings of innocent Armenians for various political agendas.

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