Involvement of the 366th Motorized Infantry Regiment in the massacre
In 1985, the 366th regiment forming a part of the 23rd division of the 4th
Army was transferred from Ganja to Khankendi (Stepanakert). Under the staff,
there should have been 1800 servicemen in the regiment, but in fact, there were
only 630 people left in February, 129 out of them officers and warrant officers,
with 49 being Armenians. In spring 1991, a lieutenant colonel, Yuriy Zarvigorov
was appointed the commander of the regiment. According to numerous testimonies
of witnesses, including soldiers, who ran away at a different time, the whole
military hardware, and even the personnel of the regiment were virtually at the
disposal of Armenians. There existed a certain scale of payment calculation:
Armenians gave 20 litres of alcohol to servicemen for each time they shelled the
town of Shusha out of cannons [read more]
Background
Khojaly is a small city located in the currently occupied Nagorno-Karabakh
region of Azerbaijan. Before its occupation, it was entirely populated by
Azerbaijanis. From the very beginning of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, the
Armenian side had been planning occupation of Khojaly for a number of reasons.
For example, the only airport of Karabakh was located in Khojaly; it also had
geostrategic importance for both Azerbaijanis and Armenians since it was located
in the middle of the highway connecting Agdam with Shusha and Askeran with
Khankendi (Stepanakert).
Besides, Khojaly was one of the largest settlements in
Karabakh predominantly populated by Azerbaijanis. [read more]
Assault on Khojaly
The attack on the city began on the night of February 25-26, 1992. At 11 p.m
shelling of Khojaly started. After the shelling, the Armenian forces with the
assistance of troops from the 366th Regiment of the CIS stationed in Stepanakert,
marched into the city. Witness accounts confirm that the troops from the 366th
Regiment took active part during the assault and occupation of the city. Khojaly
was surrounded from three sides, whence the military troops entered into the
city.
By 7 a.m. the last point of Azeri resistance was taken out by the enemy
forces. The residents of the city had to flee through the snowy areas, a lot of
them being without footwear and warm clothes; therefore a number of people died
of frostbite on the way. [read more]
Frame-ups in propaganda films
Authors of the film quoted a few sentences from an interview with Ramiz Fataliyev (chairman of the Parliamentary Commission of inquiry into the Khojaly massacre), but they manage to forge even these few sentences pulled out of context.
The original of this interview is in Azerbaijani language; in the film, his words were submitted in Russian, but with an amendment in favor of Armenians. In the film, the authors added the following to Fataliyev’s words:
“That is, we provoked Armenians to attack”- this small postscript to the words of Fataliyev, radically changes the meaning of his statement.
...Hasanabad, Mehdikend, Bozdagh - they were shooting from everywhere. The
land shuddered at the sound of armored infantry vehicles smashing into Khojaly.
At first, women and children were told to hide in the basements.
Then Elman Mamedov, the head of the executive power, came and said that we
had to escape, otherwise we would be exterminated. Alif Hajiyev, the director of
the airport led the rescue operation breaking through Armenian lines to take the
civilians to Agdam. We were trapped in an ambush near the village of
Nakhichevanik.
I will never forget what I saw: there were piles of corpses. My
mother was shot dead. My daughters Hijran and Sevinj were injured. At the same
moment the bullet hit me. [read more]
«Escape route»
There exist a number of evidences and facts showing that the seizure of
Khodjaly and massacre of its population was organized by Armenians not only to
capture a strategic settlement but to intimidate Azerbaijanis. They intended to
deter residents of towns and villages in Karabakh inhabited by Azeri people and
believed it would facilitate the ethnic cleansing in the region. For instance,
they undertook the similar tactics though small-scaled
while seizing Karadaghly settlement.
Serge Sarkisian described it in
the following way: “We decided to cut the frontline short” (>>>).
It should be noted that they were a success at this task to a certain extent.
After the capture of Khodjaly, some residents of settlements with Azerbaijanis
living there were scared they could experience the same.
[read more]
In 1985, the 366th regiment forming a part of the 23rd division of the 4th
Army was transferred from Ganja to Khankendi (Stepanakert). Under the staff,
there should have been 1800 servicemen in the regiment, but in fact, there were
only 630 people left in February, 129 out of them officers and warrant officers,
with 49 being Armenians. In spring 1991, a lieutenant colonel, Yuriy Zarvigorov
was appointed the commander of the regiment. According to numerous testimonies
of witnesses, including soldiers, who ran away at a different time, the whole
military hardware, and even the personnel of the regiment were virtually at the
disposal of Armenians. There existed a certain scale of payment calculation:
Armenians gave 20 litres of alcohol to servicemen for each time they shelled the
town of Shusha out of cannons 
Khojaly is a small city located in the currently occupied Nagorno-Karabakh
region of Azerbaijan. Before its occupation, it was entirely populated by
Azerbaijanis. From the very beginning of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, the
Armenian side had been planning occupation of Khojaly for a number of reasons.
The attack on the city began on the night of February 25-26, 1992. At 11 p.m
shelling of Khojaly started. After the shelling, the Armenian forces with the
assistance of troops from the 366th Regiment of the CIS stationed in Stepanakert,
marched into the city. Witness accounts confirm that the troops from the 366th
Regiment took active part during the assault and occupation of the city. Khojaly
was surrounded from three sides, whence the military troops entered into the
city.
Authors of the film quoted a few sentences from an interview with Ramiz Fataliyev (chairman of the Parliamentary Commission of inquiry into the Khojaly massacre), but they manage to forge even these few sentences pulled out of context.