Pursuit of justice: Commemorating 33 years since Khojaly massacre Darkest night in Azerbaijan’s history

Today marks 33 years since one of the darkest chapters in Azerbaijan’s modern history — the Khojaly Genocide. Across the country and beyond, solemn ceremonies are being held to honour the memory of the innocent lives lost in the massacre of February 26, 1992.

The tragedy of Khojaly began long before that fateful night.

As Caliber.Az recalls, since October 1991, the city had been under blockade, slowly suffocating under siege. By October 30, road access was completely cut off, leaving air transport as the only lifeline. But even that was severed when the last civilian helicopter landed in Khojaly on January 28, 1992. Soon after, on January 2, electricity was cut, plunging the city into darkness.

Yet, the people of Khojaly stood firm, relying on sheer resilience and the heroism of their defenders. Local militia, police forces, and fighters of the National Army, armed with little more than small firearms, took up the impossible task of defending their home against heavily armed attackers.

Then came the night of horror.

On February 25-26, 1992, Armenian armed formations, supported by heavy military equipment and personnel from the 366th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the former Soviet Army stationed in Khankendi, launched a brutal assault on the city. Artillery shelling began on the evening of February 25, reducing homes to rubble and setting the city ablaze. As the fires spread, 2,500 terrified residents had no choice but to flee into the freezing night, desperately hoping to reach the city of Aghdam.

But escape was never an option. Armenian armed forces intercepted them, unleashing unimaginable brutality on unarmed civilians.

The toll of human suffering was staggering:

• 613 people were killed, including:
  • 63 children
  • 106 women
  • 70 elderly people
• 8 families were completely wiped out
• 25 children lost both parents
• 130 children lost one parent
• 487 people were wounded, including 76 children
• 1,275 people were taken hostage
• 150 people went missing

In recognition of this atrocity, the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan passed a resolution on February 24, 1994, officially declaring February 26 as Khojaly Genocide Remembrance Day.

This recognition was reaffirmed over the years by further resolutions in 1995, 2007, and 2012, all of which unequivocally classified the mass killing of Azerbaijanis in Khojaly — perpetrated by Armenian forces, armed militants, and the 366th Motorized Rifle Regiment — as an act of genocide.

Thirty-three years later, the memory of Khojaly remains a deep wound in Azerbaijan’s collective conscience. Yet, in remembering this tragedy, the world is reminded that such horrors must never be repeated.

By Tamilla Hasanova