Ethnic Armenian In Russian Border Guard Service Found Hanged In Armenia

YEREVAN -- Armenian police are investigating the death of a 30-year-old Russian border guard stationed in Armenia.

Arsen Karapetian, an ethnic Armenian, was found hanged in his half-constructed house in Yerevan on July 23.

His mother-in-law found the body.

Armenia’s Investigation Committee has not yet determined if Karapetian’s death was a suicide.

Karapetian’s brother-in-law said the border guard may have committed suicide because of problems connected to his work as a member of the border guard service, which is subordinate to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

The relative said that Karapetian owed the equivalent of about $1,500 to a fellow serviceman.

He had been living with his in-laws while building his own house next door.

The brother-in-law told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the family tried taking out a loan to help Karapetian settle his debt.

"He was supposed to take the money to the military unit, because he had some problems there. Had he not brought the money with him, something bad would have happened to him there," the relative said.

It was not immediately possible to confirm the relative's allegations. No one at the FSB Border Guard’s press service answered RFE/RL's calls throughout July 24.

Naira Harutiunian, a spokeswoman for the Investigation Committee, said that forensic analyses have been ordered to further the investigation of the death.

In 2015, two ethnic Armenians in the Russian Border Guard Service committed suicide by hanging themselves.

The criminal cases launched into those incidents were eventually closed or suspended.