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Mher
Choulhadjian |
Vartan
Pakhshian |
Vartan
Sdepanian |
Vahe
Baghdasarian |
Shushi
liberation was a historical
necessity to restore the fundamental
right of Armenians to populate the
land that was historically Armenian
and to strengthen the victorious
spirit of the Armenian nation,
molded in battles. In this way the
Artsakh movement went into a new
stage and a radical change was
introduced into the military action,
making the independence of the NKR
inevitable
The
Shushi liberation was induced by
economic necessity too, as a result
of a communication blockade – on
land and in the air, the lack of
energy, gas and potable water and
the permanent bombings of
Stepanakert from Shushi the economy
of the whole republic was
devastated. During those days Shushi
was the main fire point from where
Stepanakert was assaulted. Since
November 1991 till early May 1992
from Shushi, Jangasan, Kesalar,
Gaibalu 4740 were sent at
Stepanakert, 3 thousand of them
coming from “Grad” device. This left
111 civilians dead and 332 -
injured, 370 houses and buildings
were destroyed.
Walls of Shushi
After the successful efforts of
self-defense forces in a number of
directions, overcoming the fire
spots, the liberation of Khojalu and
opening of the airport economic,
military and moral pre-conditions
for Shushi liberation were set in
place. In this regard the
self-defense of Karin village was of
utmost importance. Thus, on January
25-26, 1992 when a small troop of
Armenian guerillas managed to fight
back the attack of the much more
numerous forces of the opponent,
defeating the troop of over 80 that
counterattacked from Shushi.
However, the permanent and ruthless
bombings and fire at Stepanakert and
its surroundings continued. In a
course of one week the city was
bombed with over 1000 shells, 800 of
them being reactive. This left 20
civilians dead. As of April 27, 1992
in Shushi, from where the civilians
were evacuated, a big number of
weapons and shells were
concentrated.
While preparing the Shushi
liberation operation the Armenian
party made a number of diplomatic
actions to prepare the world public
opinion. In the address of NKR
Supreme Council to the UN Secretary
General, the leaders of the OSCE and
a number of countries attention was
attracted to the genocide committed
by Azerbaijanis, in particular to
the Maragi Massacre in April 1991.
On May 1 the Presidium of the NKR
Supreme Council re-appealed to the
international community, stating
that the population of Karabakh is
doomed to starvation is deprived of
water supply, electricity, medicine…
Hence the liberation of Shushi was
prompted primarily by the need to
ensure the safety of the population
of Stepanakert and whole of
Nagorno-Karabakh. In answer to this
appeal representatives of a number
of countries, including the UN
Special Representative S. Wence, the
OSCE Officer Y. Kobich, Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran
M. Vaezi, Russian Foreign Minister
A. Kozyrev arrived in the region.
The negotiations process started,
too: in Tehran, the capital of Iran
on May 6 the RA President L.
Ter-Petrosyan, the Iran President
Rafsanjani and the acting President
of Azerbaijan Y. Mamedov met.
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Aram
Bedrossian |
Bedo
Ghevontian |
Garod
Megerdchian |
Simon
Achigozian |
The
Liberation Operation
The liberation operation in Shushi
was implemented on May 8-9. The
operation nearly perfect in terms of
its conception and realization, was
a unique one in the history of
Armenian military art and introduced
a dramatic change in the military
progress of the Karabakh liberation
war.
The operation started after the
positions of Kirs were gained and
control over the road Lachin-Shushi
was established at 2.30 in the
morning of May 9 by a simultaneous
advancement in 4 directions, with a
joint fire from MM-21 guns. The
operation was directed by the
Commander of Self-Defense Forces
Arkadiy Ter-Tadevosyan (Commandos).
The commandment was represented also
by Major General G. Dalibaltayan,
Serzh Sargsyan, R. Gzogyan, Z.
Balayan, signalists, medical
service, artillery preparation,
engineering service. The work was
coordinated by A. Papazyan, V.
Marutyan, L. Martirosov., R.
Aghajanyan, respectively, as well as
representatives of NKR leadership O.
Yesayan, G. Petrosyan, A. Ghukasyan,
R. Kocharyan and others. The plan of
the liberation operation was blessed
by the leader of Artsakh Diocese,
Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan who
wished good luck to the members of
the Self-Defense Headquarter.
The operation plan was developed
with guidance from A. Ter-Tadevosyan
immediately after Khojalu was
liberated. The plan was put together
in March-April, after the
intelligence data about the
location, positions and the number
of the rival forces had been
finalized. In terms of human
resources and arms the enemy was
superior to the Armenian forces. The
operation situation was controlled;
every single change was immediately
reported to V. Sargsyan and S.
Sargsyan. The plan was developed in
top secrecy with active involvement
of A. Ter-Tadevosyan, R. Gzogyan, S.
Sargsyan, L. Martirosov, R.
Kocharyan, as well as the commanders
of the main directions (S. Babayan,
A. Karapetyan, S. Ohanyan, V.
Chitchyan and others). On April 28
the main directions of the
operation, the commanders, the
resources at hand were finalized and
defined.
By the commission of L. Martirosov,
the model of Shushi area was made,
enabling the commanders to define
their actions and directions. The
military actions were led from
commanding points, located at an
altitude to the north of Shushi and
four others. The attack was to start
on May 4, but for various reasons
(lack of ammunition, adverse weather
conditions, etc.) it was delayed. On
May 8, at night 4 attacking groups
and 1 reserve group (a total of 1200
soldiers) of the self-defense forces
started the assault.
The military order of Shushi
liberation was signed by on May 4
with the following details:
“1. The enemy holds the surrounding
positions on Shushi elevations with
a human resource of 1200, in Zarslu
- of about 100, in Lisagor - of
about 300-350, in Kesalar - of about
300.
2. Our task is:
a/ To defeat the enemy in Lisagor,
Zaralu, Janasan, Karagyav;
b/ To defeat the enemy at Shushi
approaches, to gain Shushi and to
free the city from the Greens
/conventional name of the enemy/;
c/ to further advance to Berdadzor
and free the Berdadzor district from
the Greens;
d/ The enemy has concentrated the
main forces in Kesalar, Lisagor,
Zarslu, in surroundings of Shushi
and circled the whole city. The ways
for defeating the enemy: to gain
high point N and take position
there. After regrouping of forces to
advance to Lisagor and Zarslu and to
immediately start the attack in four
directions:
a/ Direction of Shosh /eastern/,
commander - A. Karapetyan
b/ Direction of “26”/northern/,
commander - V. Chitchyan
c/ Lachin direction /southern/,
commander - S. Babayan
d/ Kesalar direction
/north-eastern/, commander - M.
Ohanyan, commander of reserve troops
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Y.
Hovhannisyan
To defeat the enemy from Stepanakert
side at three Shushi edges, then to
destroy the enemy and liberate
Shushi.
The result of the battle became
certain already on May 8, when the
troops succeeded in gaining
favorable positions on Lachin and
other directions. The stop of
military actions in the evening of
May 8, allowed the enemy to withdraw
from the city by a specially
allocated corridor, having displayed
just some irregular resistance. At
about noon 1 military place and
helicopters of the enemy attacked,
bombing a number of Armenian troops,
as well as Shushi and Stepanakert.
It turned out later that the aim of
the air attack to destroy the
military warehouses remaining in
Shushi – the Azerbaijanis hoped to
thus destroy the whole city, but
failed to accomplish it.
Results and historical significance
of Shushi liberation
A brilliant completion of Shushi
operation, in particular, the few
losses and the speed of it, becoming
the subject of admiration of
military experts, was the result of
valor of Armenian soldiers and an
excellent organization. Its result
was the destruction of all fire
spots and military positions around
Stepanakert. The enemy suffered
significant losses of human
resources and ammunition. The
development and implementation of
the operation proved the vitality of
Armenian military idea and were a
serious commencement for the
Self-Defense Forces. This was
followed by an opening of Lachin
corridor and the break through the
blockade around NKR, the road of
life between Artsakh and Armenia was
opened. The independence of NKR
became complete and full-fledged.
The belief in the possible victory
over the enemy that had superior
forces and capacities became
stronger. The Shushi victory had
made a major blow on the enemy that
was never able to overcome the loser
complex throughout the war.
The liberation of Shushi had huge
value for all Armenians, and it
showed the world community how
serious the aims and purposes of
Artsakh movement are. During the
battles for Shushi the casualties of
the Armenian party made 57 dead,
/250-300 in the case of enemy/,
600-700 injured, 13 missing in
action. Taking into account the
importance of Shushi liberation, in
1994 the Supreme Council of NKR
established medal “For Shushi
Liberation”.
In
Republic of Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic May 9 is
officially announced Shushi
Liberation Day.
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