The capture of hostages in Yerevan. Main

The police continues negotiations with armed people

On the morning of July 17, several armed people captured a police station in Yerevan. Eight people fell into temporary captivity. The invaders require the release of political prisoners and, according to some reports, change power in the country. The area in which the capture occurred was numb by the police, negotiations continue all day. Medusa briefly talks about what is happening in Yerevan.

Attention: data in the text is relevant at 19.00 Moscow time.

The hostages in the police station were the law enforcement officers on duty. The invaders of the building drove into the station on the truck at about 5.30 in the morning local time. They captured all eight police officers in the site. Then one of them with hypertension took the ambulance. Subsequently, according to unconfirmed reports of several media, the deputy head of the Yerevan police Valery Osipyan and Major General of the police Vartan Egiazaryan, who came to negotiations, were taken hostage. At the same time, the national security service reported on the release of two hostages (their names are not called). By evening, the police announced that six police officers remained in captivity.

The invaders declared themselves supporters of the Constituent Parliament. They demand the liberation from the prison of oppositionist Zhirair Sephilyan and, according to some reports, the resignation of President Serzh Sargsyan (who is Sephilyan and what kind of “Constituent Parliament” organization can be read here ). On the afternoon of July 17, arrests of members of the Constituent Parliament took place in Armenia. Two people were detained near the police station, but whether they are connected with the invaders, is unknown.

The building of the police station had a shootout, there are dead and wounded. According to the police, as a result of the shootout, the deputy chief of the regiment of the patrol service Arthur Vanoyan, Aram Ovannisyan, Grachya Hostehdyan and Gagik Mkrtchyan were killed. Later it became known about the fourth wounded - police operator. Two wounded are in serious condition, two in extremely difficult. From the side of the invaders no one is injured.

Safety measures have been increased in Yerevan. In particular, many cars are inspected at the entrance to the city. Armed military walks through the streets. The area in which the police station was captured was blocked, people from nearby houses were evacuated.

The authorities chose the tactics of negotiations with the invaders. In the middle of the day there were rumors about the possible assault on the building, but they were not confirmed. “The special forces units at the scene continue to be in a state of military readiness, however, they were not given an order to assault or other active actions,” TASS quotes a quote from the statement of the National Security and Defense Council.