The Armenian government gave no reasons for the sacking of Davtian, one of his deputies, Lieutenant-General Andranik Makarian, as well as the commanders of the army’s artillery and engineer units and the head of a General Staff division dealing with army morale.
All of the generals except Davtian were replaced later in the day. The government did not immediately name a new army chief.
In what appears to be a related development, the chiefs of Armenia’s military intelligence and rear services were relieved of their duties last week.
Pashinian installed Davtian as chief of the General Staff in March 2021. The previous holder of the top military position, Colonel-General Onik Gasparian, was fired after he and four dozen other high-ranking officers accused Pashinian’s government of incompetence and misrule and demanded its resignation.
Davtian was widely expected to be sacked after being indicted last fall in a criminal investigation into supplies of allegedly faulty ammunition to the country’s armed forces.
Two other generals as well as former Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan and a private arms dealer were arrested as part of the same criminal case in September. They and Davtian were charged with fraud and embezzlement that cost the state almost 2.3 billion drams ($4.7 million).
As they went on trial on January 19 the suspects denied the accusations stemming from the purchase of allegedly outdated air-to-surface rockets for the Armenian Air Force.
The latest sackings coincided with Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikian’s first visit to Moscow that began on Thursday. The Armenian Defense Ministry said Papikian will meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu and “other high-ranking officials.”