"Fact" daily writes:
"Yuris was very beautiful, like an angel. It was unique. He was a quiet child, I can't say he was naughty. He was quiet, listening. His eyes showed that he was very kind. His eyes were the color of the sky," said Mrs. Zina, Yuri's mother, in a conversation with "Pasti". When talking about his son's school years, he says: "He studied well, but, to put it this way, with difficulty. As a mother, I always wanted to come first. Once Yuri told me. "Mom, why do you want me to always be the first, it won't be like that?"
Did well until ninth grade. Then he started attending high school. Studied at Fizmat school. Yuri liked to be united in the class, but there the students were not like that, everyone was for himself. Changed his stream to economics. Then he studied and with high grades was admitted to the "Applied Mathematics" department of the French University. He didn't manage to be a student." Yuri also studied vocals, karate, painting. in 2021 On July 16, Yuri was drafted into compulsory military service, the first six months of which were spent in Mughni. After specializing in air defense, he moved to Vardenis. He continued his service with the rank of junior sergeant and was also the squad commander.
After being discharged, Yuri's wishes were to excel academically. "He wanted to study for free. I can't say that he had any specific plans that he wanted to implement. I knew he had a girlfriend. But we hadn't talked about that topic yet, he said, "Mom, I'll come soon...". The horror of the 44-day war does not make Yuri or his family hesitate about his son's mandatory military service. "I'll be honest, saying that probably most of the parents of the boys, who were already going to serve after the war, were not afraid for the following reasons: their sons would not go to serve in Karabakh, and on the other hand, we did not imagine that the enemy could invade the territory of Armenia. In addition, every parent is sure that nothing bad can happen to their child.
I thought the same about Yuri. He was so kind, special, that I was sure that nothing could be wrong with him." Yuri never complained about the course of the service, even if he had difficulties, he did not share them with his family members. "He loved his uniform very much, everything had to be in place at all times. He was particular about the uniform. When he was serving in Mughni, he said: "Mom, if all military units were like this, everyone would want to serve for more than two years." There was order and rule, there was no talk of annoying each other, they were united. In the case of Vardenis, I listened to his conversation once and understood that he did not like the lack of order there. But he was able to overcome all difficulties. He was already a soldier for one year and two months."
in 2022 On the night of September 12-13, Azerbaijan attacked the sovereign territory of Armenia. "On the evening of September 12, it was half past eight or nine when we talked. I was surprised that he called so soon. "Mom, good night, I'm going to sleep, I'm tired." I asked: Dear, so soon? "Yes, mom, I go to bed early, that's why I called early." Yura was in positions that night. He had to hand over duty, the mother says, that duty was on her son. "When he was promoted, he never told me about it. At bedtime and dinner, he would say: Mom, we are going to sleep, good night, or: Mom, we are going to eat. He had one word, he always said it: Mom, God be with you. He was pious, he understood the Bible in a unique way." After talking with her son, the mother also goes to bed. "I had heart palpitations, I felt bad, I drank medicine, lay down and immediately fell asleep. At half past twelve my phone started ringing. I answered, it was one of my acquaintances, he asked, "What about the child?"
I was surprised why he was asking me such a question, then it turned out that they had already seen on the news that the enemy had attacked in the direction of Vardenis. We started to call Yuri, but he was unavailable, still unavailable to this day. I don't know anything about what happened at what time. The first attack was on air defense, it turns out that it was Yuri." The family "found" their son 20 days later, and that was through DNA research. “I suppose it was unrecognizable. Now I already understand that our relatives were in many places, looking for Yuriis, but they did not find him anywhere. Even my husband went to the same place several times, but he could not confirm his identity either with pictures or other options. That's why we hoped that nothing happened to him. They told me from the side: Yuri is smart, don't lose hope." About living in hope.
"I am still waiting for him. In my dreams, I often see Yuris opening the door of his house and entering. God exists, maybe there will be a miracle. At night, if you say good night to your son, the light will come on, and you won't be able to find him?" And in the end, about the power to live. "Life was not long, death was preferable. But my younger son, Arsene, told me if you hurt yourself, I will come after you. Besides, if there's even a one percent chance that I'll meet Yuri one day, I can't hurt myself. God will not forgive me and I will not be able to see my son. I live for Arseny and the hope that one day I will meet Yuri." H. G. Junior Sergeant Yuri Hunanov was posthumously awarded the "Combat Service" medal. He was buried in the pantheon of his native Nor Geghi, Kotayk region.
Lusine Arakelyan
