BIRTH OF ARKADY TER TADEVOSYAN

Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan [pronounced as Der-Tadevosian], also known by his nom-de-guerre Komandos, was a military leader of the Armenian forces in the first Artsakh war and best known for commanding the capture of the town of Shushi in 1992.

Ter-Tadevosyan was born Artush Tadevosyan in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, on May 22, 1939. After graduating from a high school in Tbilisi, he decided to become an officer. He attended military school in Baku and Leningrad (nowadays St. Petersburg). He served in Afghanistan and continued his military service in Leninakan (modern-day Gyumri), East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Belarus, and Yerevan. He was also a lecturer at the Armenian State Agrarian University.

The impending breakup of the Soviet Union and the brewing conflict in Artsakh led Ter-Tadevosyan to take part in the organization of the defense of Armenian villages on the Azerbaijani border in 1990. Thereafter, he went to Artsakh to train soldiers.

Ter-Tadevosyan was appointed head of the Training Corps Defense Committee in 1991. The following year he was named commander of the operation “Wedding in the Mountains” to seize Shushi, which marked the first significant military victory by Armenian forces during the first Artsakh war on May 9, 1992. He participated in the formation of the armed forces of Armenia and assisted it to overcome significant challenges before it could emerge as a well-developed institution. On May 25, 1992, he was awarded the rank of major general for his accomplishments during the war and also received the Order of the Combat Cross (1st class). He was also adjutant of the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia in 1996. On the 17th anniversary of the capture of Shushi in 2009, he was awarded the Order of the Golden Eagle and title of Hero of Artsakh.

During the later years of his military career, Ter-Tadevosyan supervised the training of specialists in the Armenian armed forces. He died in Yerevan on March 31, 2021. Upon his request, he was buried at the family cemetery in the district of Davitashen. He was posthumously named National Hero of Armenia on May 8, 2021, and awarded the Order of the Motherland.