At the time the Azerbaijanis took the town of Hadrut, at least 3-4 Armenians remained in the town. This was stated to NEWS.am by Kamo Petrosyan, head of the Hadrut district administration.
“When the mercenaries entered all at once on 10 October, we got people out as much as possible, but in the upper part of Hadrut 3-4 people remained according to preliminary data. To this day there is no information about them — whether they were killed or taken captive,” he said, noting that civilians also remained in the villages, but it is still being determined how many civilians are involved.
Hadrut came entirely under enemy control on 12 October. The first group of infiltrators entered the town on 10 October from the upper section.
“We were working at the administration with the staff, and we also had weapons. We received word — one of our boys from Vardashat village said they are coming from above with troops and there are many of them, 250-300 people. We went, the administration, a few streets down we blocked their path with a few people; they could not move forward. I was wounded there too. Then they would not stop; a huge number were coming from behind. The problem was that there was no defence line in Hadrut; there were various local units,” recounted Hayk Petrosyan, noting that even until the last days of the war, Hadrut residents fought at various positions.
In total, 45 villages from the Hadrut district and the town of Hadrut passed to the enemy. 13,500 civilians have been left homeless. Hayk Petrosyan recalled that many people did not even have time to take basic necessities with them when leaving Hadrut.
“There are people who left in the clothes they were wearing, went somehow. Everyone was able to carry basic necessities with them. For the most part we were hoping that we would hold the town,” he said.
According to Hayk Petrosyan, the wish of Hadrut residents is to return to their native town.
“We see ourselves only in Hadrut. We are all hopeful, including myself, that we must return,” he said.
Registration centres for Hadrut residents have been opened in Stepanakert and Yerevan.
