The siege of Stepanakert started in late 1991, during the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War was an ethnic conflict, ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nag ...

, in

Stepanakert Stepanakert officially Khankendi is a city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. It was the capital city of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh prior to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in ...

, the largest city in

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

, when the Azerbaijani forces circled the city. Until May 1992, the city and its

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

population were the target of a months-long campaign of bombardment by

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. The bombardment of Stepanakert and adjacent Armenian towns and villages, which took place under the conditions of total blockade by Azerbaijan, caused widespread destruction and many civilian deaths.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

reported that the main bases used by

Azerbaijani Armed Forces The Azerbaijani Armed Forces () is the military of the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. It was re-established according to the country's Law of the Armed Forces on 9 October 1991. The original Azerbaijan Democratic Republic's armed forces were ...

for the bombardment of Stepanakert included the towns of Khojaly and

Shusha Shusha (, ) or Shushi () is a city in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Situated at an altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet Union, Soviet ...

. Azerbaijani forces used weapons such as the

BM-21 Grad The BM-21 "Grad" () is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. The system and the M-21OF rocket were first developed in the early 1960s, and saw their first combat use in March 1969 during the Sino-S ...

multiple-launch rocket systems. The indiscriminate shelling, sniper shooting and aerial attacks killed or maimed hundreds of civilians and destroyed homes, hospitals and other buildings that were not legitimate military targets, and generally terrorized the civilian population. As a result of the offensive launched by Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh, more than 40,000 people became refugees and dozens of villages were burnt and ruined. According to Memorial Human Rights Center, the residential areas of both

and

were shelled on a regular basis with the use of artillery and rocket launchers. There were more destruction and casualties in Stepanakert than in Shusha, which could be explained by location of

in the lowland and much higher intensity of shelling from Shusha due to Azerbaijan's capture of

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

depots in

Aghdam Aghdam () is a town and the nominal capital of the Aghdam District of Azerbaijan. Founded in the 18th century, it was granted city status in 1828 and grew considerably during the Soviet period. Aghdam lies from Stepanakert at the eastern foot ...

and other locales with more than 11,000 wagons full of rockets, including those for BM-21 MLRS. The siege of the city stopped only after the capture of Shusha by Armenian forces on May 8–9, 1992.

Background

is a city located on Karabakh Plateau at the center of the

, a mountainous and

landlocked A landlocked country is a country that has no territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie solely on endorheic basins. Currently, there are 44 landlocked countries, two of them doubly landlocked (Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan), and t ...

region situated in the

South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

. Although Armenian sources state that the settlement was first mentioned as ''Vararakn'' (, meaning "rapid spring"), named after the river flowing through it, Azerbaijani references generally say that the settlement was founded in the late eighteenth century as a private residence for khans of the

Karabakh Khanate The Karabakh Khanate (also spelled Qarabagh; ; ) was a Khanates of the Caucasus, khanate under History of Iran, Iranian and later Russian Empire, Russian suzerainty, which controlled the historical region of Karabakh, now divided between modern ...

, and was thus called ''Khankendi'' (, literally "the khan's village"). After the establishment of the Soviet authority, Khankendi was renamed Stepanakert (, literally "the city of Stepan") by the decree of the Central Executive Committee of the Azerbaijani SSR, dated August 10, 1923, to honour Stepan Shaumian, leader of the

26 Baku Commissars The 26 Baku Commissars were Bolshevik and Left SR, Left Socialist Revolutionary (SR) members of the Baku Commune. The commune was established in the city of Baku, which was then the capital of the briefly independent Azerbaijan Democratic Repub ...

. After that, Stepanakert was made the capital of the

Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) was an Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union, autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its capital was the city of Stepanakert. The majori ...

(NKAO) and gradually became a chief city for the Armenians in the region. According to the 1979 Soviet census, the city had a population of 38,980 people, mostly of Armenians, who constituted 87% of the total population, and more than four thousand Azerbaijanis. In September 1988, a mass looting and

pogrom A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...

took place, directed against the ethnic Azerbaijani population of the city, known as the Stepanakert pogrom. As a result, the city's Azerbaijani population fled the city.

Blockade

Azerbaijan blockaded railroad lines and the delivery of oil and natural gas to Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh since 1989. Since the fall of 1991 the imposed blockade became full and continuous. The blockades shattered the Armenian economy, sparked social unrest and created a devastating humanitarian crisis. Throughout the spring of 1992, Stepanakert (which had fifty five thousand inhabitants) was under siege – Azerbaijan had cut all the land communication between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Stepanakert had no access by road to Armenia for almost two years and its only link to the outside world was by helicopter across the mountains to Armenia. Thus many of its residents had been virtually trapped there all that time. As a result of tightening of the blockade by Azerbaijan all essential supplies, including water, electricity, food and medicines were virtually cut off. The Armenians living in Stepanakert had to spend almost the whole time sheltering in basements and cellars in appalling conditions. According to Human Rights Watch,Bloodshed in the Caucasus: escalation of the armed conflict in Nagorno Karabakh. 1992, page 12; 34 It was in these conditions of total blockade that Azerbaijan subjected Stepanakert to shelling and bombardment.Caroline Cox and John Eibner (1993)
''Ethnic Cleansing in Progress: War in Nagorno Karabakh''
Zürich; Washington: Institute for Religious Minorities in the Islamic World.

The siege

During the winter of 1991–92,

was hit by artillery and aerial bombardment by Azerbaijani forces. In May 1992, when

Helsinki Watch Helsinki Watch was a private American non-governmental organization established by Robert L. Bernstein in 1978, designed to monitor the former Soviet Union's compliance with the 1975 Helsinki Accords. Expanding in size and scope, Helsinki Watc ...

arrived to

, the city had already suffered heavy destruction. On August 22–24 alone, Azerbaijani bombings had caused at least 40 civilian deaths and left 100 people wounded. Helsinki Watch's report stated that the "Azerbaijani shelling and bombing were reckless and indiscriminate, and aimed at terrorizing and forcing out Armenian civilians. Like previous Azerbaijani attacks on

, the shelling and bombing throughout the counter-offensive and beyond destroyed or damaged scores of homes and sometimes entire villages." According to Caroline Cox, "I used to count 400 Grad missiles every day pounding in on Stepanakert." The shelling aimed to intimidate and oust the Armenian civilian population from Karabakh and to take military control. David Atkinson, a member of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

, reminded PACE that he visited Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s, and added that he "will never forget" the Azerbaijani bombing of

during a report on January 25, 2005, during the PACE winter session. Geographically Stepanakert lay in the most vulnerable position, with Aghdam 15 miles to the East, Khojaly to the North and Shusha to the South. The Azeri controlled towns of Shusha and Khojaly were overlooking Stepanakert and were used as main bases for shelling and bombing the capital. Helsinki Watch writes, "While Azerbaijani forces held the town of Shusha, which overlooks Stepanakert, they pounded the latter with Grads and heavy artillery fire, hitting civilians, residential areas, hospitals, and the like... Russian pilot Anatolii Chistiakov said that the Azerbaijanis routinely ask mercenary pilots to drop tear gas to cause panic among civilians." The mainstay artillery platforms used in the bombardment, which began on January 10, 1992 and lasted for 4 months, was the Soviet built

BM-21 GRAD The BM-21 "Grad" () is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. The system and the M-21OF rocket were first developed in the early 1960s, and saw their first combat use in March 1969 during the Sino-S ...

multiple rocket launcher A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple rocket launcher, launchers which are fixed to a single weapons platform, platform, and shoots its rocket (weapon ...

capable of firing 40 rockets simultaneously, a modern variant of the widely used World War II weapon, the

Katyusha Katyusha () is a diminutive of the Russian name Ekaterina or Yekaterina, the Russian form of Katherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in c ...

. The GRAD launcher was similar to the Katyusha in that it did not have a well-guided missile system and hence the location of where it would hit was difficult to determine. Essentially, GRAD is designed to deliver anti-personnel devastation on an open battlefield, while the Azerbaijani Army used it to shell civilians in a densely populated capital of Nagorno-Karabakh. Dubbed "flying telephone poles" due to their long, thin shape, the missiles caused devastating damage to buildings including the destruction of residential houses, schools, the city's silk factory, maternity hospital and at least one kindergarten. On May 31, 1992, the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' wrote:

Armenian response

By May 1992,

was the only Azerbaijani-controlled area near Stepanakert during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, which was used to launch GRAD missiles into Stepanakert's neighborhoods. Almost all of the civilian population of

Karabakh Karabakh ( ; ) is a geographic region in southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and Aras. It is divided into three regions: Highland Kara ...

was concentrated in Stepanakert after leaving due to the battle zone, and even poorly aimed bombing by Azerbaijani aircraft resulted in heavy losses of civilians. Karabakh's self-defense forces retaliated, and in two days of fighting captured Shusha the last Azerbaijani inhabited area in Nagorno-Karabakh. Thus they gained control over Nagorno-Karabakh, which brought an end to shelling and bombardment of Stepanakert, the capital of the breakaway

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Artsakh ( ), officially the Republic of Artsakh or the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh ( ), was a list of states with limited recognition, breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory was internationally recognised as part of Azerbai ...

. Daily bombardment by Azerbaijan's Grad missiles and attacks on Goris and Kapan caused thousands of civilian and military deaths, and massive property destruction. Bombs had been constantly directed towards Stepanakert, until the capture of Shusha, on May 8, 1992. The town of Khojaly was on the road from

and Stepanakert to

and had the region's only airport. The airport was of vital importance for the survival of the population in Karabakh, which had no land connection with Armenia and was under a total blockade by Azerbaijan. According to reports from

, Khojaly was used as a base for Azerbaijani forces for shelling the city of Stepanakert. In February 1992, Artsakhi Self Defense forces captured Khojaly as this was the only way to stop the bombardment of Stepanakert from Khojaly and to break the blockade.

International reactions

The United States Congress condemned Azerbaijan's blockade and aggression against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh passing amendment N: 907 to the Freedom Support Act (1992) which banned the US direct support to the government of Azerbaijan. The bill namely stated: Human rights organisation Christian Solidarity International (CSI) in its report on the First Nagorno-Karabakh War concludes that Azerbaijan was the primary aggressor and initiator of the Karabakh war because Azerbaijan 1) organized forcible deportations of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, 2) imposed a blockade on Karabakh and Armenia, 3) used heavy military force and bombarded the civilian areas. The report also states,

Helsinki Watch

A delegation of members from

had gone to Stepanakert for two days.

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

had said that Stepanakert was constantly attacked by Azerbaijanis, starting around 1991, in October. The Helsinki Watch members had gone around the city and had observed the widespread damage and photographed many damages to civilian areas. The delegation also noticed that almost every apartment in Stepanakert's western side, had been hit by shelling. Representatives of Helsinki Watch, had photographed the complete destruction of a hospital, and also school buildings in parts of the city. The Helsinki Watch concluded in their ''Annual Report'' that Azerbaijani forces had "pounded the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, Stepanakert, and other Armenian towns and villages with shells and grenades. The indiscriminate shelling and sniper shooting killed or maimed hundreds of civilians, destroyed homes, hospitals and other objects that are not legitimate military targets."

Journalists' accounts

Vanora Bennett, British reporter, Journalist Vadim Byrkin, The ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'' reported, Anzhelika Chechina, Russian Journalist and Human Rights Activist: ''Los Angeles Times'' reporter John-Thor Dahlburg: ''Chicago Tribune'' reporter Michael McGuire: The UK ''Daily Telegraph'': Russian writer and human rights activist Inessa Burkova: Russian journalist Galina Kovalskaya

Notes

References

External links

Indiscriminate Bombing and Shelling by Azerbaijani Forces in Nagorno KarabakhMemories of Stepanakert: Karabakhi reporter compares to nights in the NKR capital

Azerbaijan's continuing siege of Stepanakert (Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh) by British journalist Russell Pollard
February 25, 1992 by John-Thor Dahlburg, Los Angeles Times {{DEFAULTSORT:Stepanakert 1991–1992 Sieges involving Armenia Battles of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War Conflicts in 1991 Conflicts in 1992 1991 in Azerbaijan 1992 in Azerbaijan 1991 in Armenia 1992 in Armenia Battles involving the Republic of Artsakh 1991 in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic 1992 in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Azerbaijani war crimes War crimes in Azerbaijan Anti-Armenian sentiment in Azerbaijan 1990s sieges Attacks on hospitals during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict War crimes in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War History of Stepanakert