Deputy Defense Minister: No unwashed soldiers in the army

ArmInfo.RA Deputy Defense Minister Arman Sargsyan is not involved in issues related to the hygiene of the country's armed forces. He stated this to journalists on April 6, commenting on the assertions of Hayk  Sargsyan, a member of the National Assembly from the ruling "Civil Contract" faction, that soldiers are only able to bathe once a week.

"There are areas within the Ministry of Defense that I personally do  not regulate, including the issue of which soldier bathes when. I  don't understand what you're talking about, but I am certain that  there are no unwashed soldiers in the army," the Deputy Minister  emphasized, adding that there have been no issues regarding this  matter to date. In turn, Andranik Kocharyan, Chairman of the  Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Security, noted that Hayk  Sargsyan is fond of fantasizing. The bill he presented, incidentally,  as Kocharyan continued, is full of problematic points, and therefore,  the faction itself voted against its adoption. The head of the  committee urged journalists to present concrete facts about  military  bribes, rather than engaging in imaginary speculation.

Earlier, Hayk Sargsyan  expressed concern that Armenian Armed Forces  servicemen only bathe once a week. Speaking to journalists, he  referred to data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, highlighting  that 3,000 young men renounce their citizenship every year. According  to him, there are many classes in the country that do not have  conscripts after graduating from high school.

 "If you have acquaintances, especially in elite schools, you can ask  them, for example, how many boys from your school graduated in 2025,  and how many of them went to the army. The scheme works like this:   those who have money renounce their citizenship before turning 18.  They spend this money not in Armenia, but abroad - a lot in Europe,  and less in Russia. As a result, the money leaves Armenia, these guys  leave our reserves, judging by the statistics, and we lose both them  and their money. I proposed to close this scheme and change it so  that this money does not leave Armenia, but goes into the pockets of  those who serve," the deputy said, adding that the number of  conscripts in Yerevan is critically low. "When we say that  conscription in the republic is 30-35%, this is largely due to the  regions, in Yerevan it is 10- 16%. We had a year when it was 10  percent, that is, there is inequality. By repealing the law, they  want to say that this injustice did not happen, but in reality, this  injustice will worsen, which I regret,"  Hayk Sargsyan stated.