02/26/2021
This year marks the 29th anniversary of the Khojaly Massacre. 29 years ago, on the night of February 25-26, residents of the small Azerbaijani town of Khojaly in Nagorno-Karabakh fell victim to one of the most heinous war crimes since World War II.
The Khojaly massacre is considered the bloodiest event of the 1991-94 Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
By February 25, Khojaly was completely surrounded by Armenian forces, and before the assault, the city was subjected to a massive artillery shelling, as result of which many civilians were killed and wounded.
Along with the Armenian armed forces, as well as mercenary militants from the Middle East, personnel and military equipment of the Russian 366th motorized rifle regiment, stationed at that time in Khankendi, took part in the storming of the city.
The massacre of the residents of the city, along with the officers of the Armenian armed forces, was led by then field commanders Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sargsyan (later the second and third presidents of Armenia). Even now, they do not deny their participation in this war crime, but they have not been brought to justice for the brutal massacre of the peaceful population of the city.
As a result of the massacre 613 persons died only that night, including:
63 children,
106 women,
70 elderly,
8 families were completely annihilated,
25 children lost both parents,
130 children lost one parent,
487 persons including 76 children were wounded
1275 persons taken hostage,
150* still missing.
Investigations conducted by the international human rights organization HRW have revealed in details all circumstances of the crimes committed by the Armenian armed forces. According to the conclusions of the international human rights experts, the massacre of Azerbaijani civilians cannot be justified under any circumstances.
This heinous crime was also documented by numerous Azerbaijani and international journalists, who filmed the bodies of the dead both in Khojaly itself and in the snow-covered fields outside the city, and recorded the testimonies of the survivors of the massacre.
Despite the abundance of materials that documented the events of the massacre and fully exposed the crimes of the Armenian militants against the innocent Azerbaijani population, none of the perpetrators of this crime has yet been brought to justice. Therefore everything possible must be done to draw international attention to the massacre in Khojaly, Azerbaijan so that the perpetrators will finally be brought to justice, and such horrific events will never ever happen again.
