Battle of Shusha (1992)

39°45.5′N 46°44.9′E

Battle of Shusha (Shushi)
Part of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War

Gagik Avsharyan's restored T-72 tank commemorating the capture of Shusha
Date8–9 May 1992
Location
Shusha
Result

Armenian victory

Belligerents
 Nagorno-Karabakh
 Armenia		  Azerbaijan
Chechen militants
Commanders and leaders
Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan
Samvel Babayan
Seyran Ohanyan
Gurgen Dalibaltayan
Jirair Sefilian
Vardan Stepanyan		 Rahim Gaziyev
Elbrus Orujev
Elkhan Orujev
Shamil Basayev
Salman Raduyev
Strength
1,000–1,800 troops
4 tanks
2 Mil Mi-24 helicopters		 2,500 troops
Several tanks
BM-21 Grad artillery
Casualties and losses
35–58 killed 150–200 killed
300 wounded
13–68 POW
~15,000 Azerbaijanis displaced
This article is about the 1992 battle. For the 2020 battle, see Battle of Shusha (2020).

The Battle of Shusha (Armenian: Շուշի, Shushi) was the first significant military victory by Armenian forces during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. The battle took place in the strategically important mountain town of Shusha on the evening of 8 May 1992, and fighting swiftly concluded the next day after Armenian forces captured it and drove out the defending Azerbaijanis. Armenian military commanders based in Nagorno-Karabakh's capital of Stepanakert had been contemplating capturing the town after Azerbaijani shelling of Stepanakert from Shusha for half a year had led to hundreds of Armenian civilian casualties and mass destruction in Stepanakert.

The capture of the town proved decisive. Shusha was the most important military stronghold that Azerbaijan held in Nagorno-Karabakh – its loss marked a turning point in the war, and led to a series of military victories by Armenian forces in the course of the conflict.

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