Baku/08.05.18/Turan: On May 8, 1992 at 3.20 a.m. Armenian troops launched a campaign to seize the Shusha city - the biggest Azerbaijani city in Nagorno-Karabakh. Shusha was being shelled till 6.00 a.m. and afterwards approximately one thousand Armenian soldiers opened an attack on Shusha from three sides with support of about 40 armored vehicles of the 366th Russian regiment earlier handed over to Armenians.
As military sources claim, Armenians widely used psychological pressure in this campaign being aware of suspiciousness of the Azeri side. On the eve of the attack Armenians called on the Azeris to leave and not to defend the city in order to save themselves, because "Shusha had been already sold." Armenians were also informed about lack of discipline in the city and location of mine lines and, because of this, Armenian armored vehicles reached the city without any problems from Khankend.
According to Armenian sources, the operation to seize Shusha was planned by Colonel Arkadi Ter-Tadevosian from the Soviet Senior Intelligence Department, who also headed the bloody seizure of the Azerbaijani city of Khojaly in February 1992 and who then commanded the Armenian troops in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Making use of disorganization in Shusha, Armenians created a panic among the population to hinder Azerbaijanis to organize defense. Meanwhile, witnesses say Armenians failed to fully seize the city during the first attack and street fighting continued within several hours. As reinforcements didn't arrive, Azerbaijani self-defense and active troops were forced to leave Shusha.
The Azerbaijan Defense Ministry was not properly informed that time about the real state of affairs in the regions. During several days after Shusha's seizure official sources still reported that street fighting was going on. However, the Azerbaijani army and the Interior Ministry's armored vehicles and live force sent to Shusha did not made an attempt to liberate Shusha. Lack of coordination between the military and the struggle for power between the Popular Front of Azerbaijan and Mutallibov's supporters in Baku led to defeats on the front and actual surrender of the strategic city Lachin to Armenians.
There are numerous facts available that Russian subdivisions, including the Senior Intelligence Department's troops dislocated in Georgia's Lagodekhi city, fought on the Armenian side.
It is noteworthy that Armenians opened an attack on Shusha several hours after the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents signed a peace agreement to settle the Karabakh conflict in Tehran through the mediation of the Iranian President.
Shusha's seizure was used by certain circles in Moscow to prevent Azerbaijan from being independent of Russia. During the first days following the seizure Russian generals and politicians made it clear that the city could be returned, if Baku agreed to pursue pro-Russian foreign and domestic policy and if Azerbaijani forces were subordinated to the CIS command.
President Ayaz Mutallibov who returned to power on May 14 said in his interview with Turan that Shusha's seizure was "a wartime caprice" and hinted that the city would be soon liberated. However, Mutallibov was overthrown after less than a day and at the end of May, 1992 the Popular Front government started withdrawal of sixty-thousand-strong Russian military contingent from Azerbaijan. --0--
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