Day of Khojaly genocide and national mourning in Azerbaijan

There are different holidays, but some of them exist only so that people always remember about the “dark” days. The Day of Khojaly genocide and national grief will forever remain such a holiday for the Azerbaijani people, because on this day, February 26, 1992, a small Azerbaijani town found itself at the epicenter of bloody events. Since then, every year Azerbaijan, remembering the grief of every Khojaly family, celebrates the Khojaly Genocide Day. The bloody events took place at the height of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in which Armenia and Azerbaijan took part. On the night of February 25-26, with the support of a motorized rifle regiment and military equipment of the former USSR, the Armenians broke into Khojaly. The armed takeover was preceded by a massive shelling, as a result of which the entire city was engulfed in flames. The civilian population tried to make their way to Aghdam, since in Khojaly armed Armenians set fire to houses, executed people right on the street, and raped women and children. The bloody tragedy that took place in this small town ended with the death of 613 people, and 150 people were declared missing. It is impossible to imagine that such atrocities could occur in the 20th century, but it is absolutely impossible to forget about them, since all this should serve as a lesson to our descendants that any conflict must be resolved only democratically. As a result of the Khojaly genocide, the city was practically destroyed, the state and citizens suffered damage amounting to more than 5 billion rubles. However, the biggest losses are human lives. In memory of those killed in the bloody Khojaly massacre, memorials have been erected in the capital of Azerbaijan and other cities. February 26 is the time when every caring Azerbaijani can come and take part in the ceremony dedicated to the victims of the Khojaly genocide.