26/02/2026
The Khojaly Genocide is considered one of the most horrific crimes committed against the civilian population of Azerbaijan during Armenia’s war of aggression. On the night of February 25–26, 1992, Armenian armed forces violated international law by attacking the besieged city of Khojaly, shelling civilians with heavy military equipment and razing the city to the ground.
As a result of this tragic crime, 613 Azerbaijani civilians were killed. Among them were 63 children, 106 women, and 70 elderly people. Eight families were completely annihilated; 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one parent.
During the events, 487 people were seriously injured, and 1,275 were taken hostage. The fate of 150 hostages — including 68 women and 26 children — remains unknown to this day. The organizers of the Khojaly tragedy were the political and military leadership of Armenia, while the perpetrators included Armenian armed forces, Armenian armed groups in Nagorno-Karabakh, and personnel of the former Soviet Army’s 366th Motor Rifle Regiment.
This massacre was a premeditated and brutal act of mass violence carried out with the intent to completely destroy the local population. Civilians attempting to flee the burning city were shown no mercy. Many were ambushed and killed on roads and in forests. The Khojaly tragedy is remembered as a mass killing of civilians and is often mentioned alongside other atrocities such as Khatyn, the Holocaust, My Lai, Lidice, Babi Yar, Rwanda, and Srebrenica.
The Khojaly genocide was committed with the aim of intimidating the Azerbaijani people, breaking their will to resist, and eliminating part of the Azerbaijani population of Nagorno-Karabakh. According to the Resolution of the Milli Majlis of February 24, 1994, February 26 was officially declared the Day of the Khojaly Genocide.
