Battle of Shusha (1992)

39°45.5′N46°44.9′E / 39.7583°N 46.7483°E / 39.7583; 46.7483

BelligerentsNagorno-Karabakh
ArmeniaAzerbaijan
Chechen volunteersCommanders and leadersArkady Ter-Tadevosyan
Samvel Babayan
Seyran Ohanyan
Robert Kocharyan
Gurgen Dalibaltayan
Jirair Sefilian
Vardan StepanyanRahim Gaziyev


Albert Agarunov†
Shamil Basayev (WIA)
Salman RaduyevStrength 1,000–1,800 troops
4 tanks
2 Mil Mi-24 helicopters 2,500 troops
Several tanks
BM-21 Grad artilleryCasualties and losses 35–58 killed 200–300 killed
300 wounded
13–68 POW ~15,000 Azerbaijanis displaced

The Battle of Shusha (Codenamed: Operation Wedding in The Mountains; Armenian: Հարսանիք լեռներում,Harsaniq lernerum;Russian: Свадьба в горах, Svadba v gorakh) (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.