Interior and Defense ministers to be reappointed - Prime Minister

ArmInfo. Armenian Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan and Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan will be reappointed to their positions, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced to journalists on July 29.

In response to media remarks regarding the ongoing non-combat deaths within the armed forces, the head of government stated that he views the solution to this issue as rooted in shifting the socio-psychological state of society. According to Pashinyan, 70% of such incidents occurring in the military are not directly related to the army itself. At the same time, he did not rule out the responsibility of the officer corps, emphasizing that each case must be examined individually.

"Ministers change, governments even change, but the problem does not disappear. This means it is much deeper than we could imagine," the Prime Minister said. Additionally, Pashinyan announced that the Prime Minister's Office will be headed by Lilit Makunts, former Armenian Ambassador to the United States.

It should be noted that, according to research by the Vanadzor Office of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly (HCA), 30 military deaths were recorded in the Armenian Armed Forces during the first seven months of 2026. The organization noted that 11 of these cases are officially categorized as service-related, while 19 are classified as non-service-related.  All fatalities in 2026 have occurred in non-combat situations. Furthermore, over the past two years and five months, no deaths have been recorded as a result of ceasefire violations in the armed forces; the last such incident occurred in February 2024, when four members of the Yerkrapah volunteer union were killed.