Rafayel Yeranosyan - “Pahlevan” at AGBU Performing Art Center in Pasadena, CA, March 14 2025, (818) 265-0506 
The Armenian American Museum Young Leaders Council in Glendale, CA. December 13th - 15th at 7:00 PM. Call: (818) 926-8108 Armenak Urfanyan
Monday, November 30, 2020
Armenak had joined the Army in 2007 and had served his country as an officer in the Armed Forces since then, having attained a rank of a Captain and becoming a commander of a battalion. His family had lived in St. Petersburg, Russia, since 1992, but they returned to Armenia to prevent Armenak and his brother, Franz, from losing their Armenian identity and forgetting their native language.
Armenak returned home at the end of March, to spend the Easter with his family and fiancé; that was the last time his relatives saw Armenak. Facing the overwhelming forces of the Azeris during the attack on the night of April 2nd, Urfanyan ordered his unit to retreat and continued to fight (with Kyaram Sloyan) the invaders for two hours, destroying a tank and more than 10 enemy soldiers before detonating a grenade that killed him and the approaching Azeris.
Armenak always carried grenades with him, saying that he would rather blow himself up than surrender to the enemy. An unexploded grenade was found in his pocket by the soldiers who retrieved Armenak’s body.
