Azerbaijani authorities in Shushi have carried out another act of cultural vandalism, completely destroying the city’s historic Old Armenian-Russian Cemetery. The international monitoring organization Caucasus Heritage Watch (CHW) has published documented information about the destruction.
Satellite imagery examined by the international monitoring organization CHW showed that the historic and cultural site was completely erased between May 9 and 14, 2026, Panorama.am reports.
The destruction was carried out under the pretext of constructing a wastewater and stormwater treatment facility in Shushi. The cemetery contained at least 35 surviving gravestones dating from 1810 to 1871. It held the remains of 19th-century Armenian residents of Shushi, artisans, doctors, civil servants and Russian military personnel. Among those buried there were Vladimir Mikhailov, commander of the 42nd Jäger Regiment, who participated in the heroic defense of Shushi in 1826, as well as Moscow-born Sofia Regina Reander, whose gravestone bore an inscription in Latin.
In addition to the 19th-century memorial stones, the cemetery also contained five medieval Armenian khachkars, or cross-stones. They provided indisputable evidence that the area had been an integral part of the Armenian spiritual and cultural environment since the deep Middle Ages.
CHW documented that the spiritual and historic site had survived all wars, political upheavals and changes of government, but was completely destroyed in 2026 under Azerbaijani control.
This is another documented case of the Azerbaijani regime erasing Armenian traces following the occupation of Artsakh and the forced displacement of its Armenian population.
