Spotlight Artsakh

The Bread of the Blockade

The families forcibly displaced from Artsakh will long remember the lack of bread during the months of blockade. That bread, often moist and bitter, has become a symbol of their struggles, deprivation, courage and strength. Photojournalist Ani Gevorgyan captures the images and feelings.
Monologues: The Homes They Lost in Artsakh

Monologues: The Homes They Lost in Artsakh

“The story of the house began with a smile and ended with tears,” writes Yan Shenkman, a Russian journalist, who moved to Armenia after the war in Ukraine started. He compiled monologues from the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh for an upcoming exhibition about the homes they lost.

Մեր տանն ենք, բայց մեր տանը չենք

We’re Home, And Yet We’re Not

In September, two families-in-law from Artsakh found refuge in the village of Yeghvard, Armenia, joining over 100,000 displaced Armenians facing similar challenges. Marut Vanyan, a journalist from Artsakh, provides insight into their experiences.

Միայն օգնությունը բավարար չէ

The Storks of Ranchpar

Several hundred forcibly displaced people from Artsakh have found refuge in the Armenian village of Ranchpar. As they struggle to make sense of their loss and create a new life, they hang on to the hope that, like the storks of the village who return each year, they too will one day return to their native Artsakh.

In Search of a New Home: Zorak

In Search of a New Home: Zorak

More than 500 forcibly displaced Armenians from Artsakh are now in the village of Zorak in Armenia’s Ararat region, where several families are living together in one house, some even in their trucks. Photojournalist Ani Gevorgyan tells their story.

War Was Aliyev’s Life Mission

War Was Aliyev’s Life Mission

If concrete measures, such as direct intervention, imposing sanctions on Aliyev's family, and targeting Aliyev's reputation, are not taken, international actors involved in the mediation process will ultimately share responsibility for the events unfolding in Artsakh.

When a Bad Peace Is Worse Than War

When a Bad Peace Is Worse Than War

Diplomacy, or more accurately diplomatic coercion, may ultimately avoid another war, but the endgame that the mediators seem certain to impose on the Artsakh Armenians would be nothing short of a total unilateral capitulation, writes Karena Avedissian.

The Dangerous Emptiness of Hate

The Dangerous Emptiness of Hate

The persistence of the hate-induced discourses and practices in Azerbaijan before and especially after the 2020 Artsakh War is indicative of the structural role of hatred in the political order created by the Aliyev regime.

Education Under Blockade

Education Under Blockade

As Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor is now in its second month, all schools in Artsakh, starting from January 19, were shut down indefinitely because of the rolling electricity blackouts and shortage of natural gas supply.

From the Dictator’s Mouth

From the Dictator’s Mouth

Statements made by Ilham Aliyev over the past two years prove that Baku will never guarantee the rights and security of the people of Artsakh, since state sponsored hate propaganda has made Azerbaijan the number one threat to the survival of the Armenians of Artsakh.

The Aftermath

The Aftermath

This is not a story about war. This is the story of what happens after the bullets, missiles, bombs and drones no longer fly through the autumn air. Maria Titizian recounts her journey to Artsakh last year, two days after the signing of the trilateral statement ending the war.

The Guardian Women of the Front Lines

The Guardian Women of the Front Lines

While the majority of women didn’t pick up guns to fight in the war, many used their skills to fight in their own way. On this first anniversary of the 2020 Artsakh War, Kushane Chobanyan presents the stories of six extraordinary women who were on the front lines.

Lives Undone

Lives Undone

In Artsakh, there is a somber air of loss, uncertainty and grief. During 45 days of war, everyone and everything from soldiers to villagers, trees to structures were afflicted and irreversibly altered. A collection of images from November 12-14, a few days after the "peace" agreement.

War Ends, What Follows?

In the wake of the November 10 ceasefire agreement and introduction of Russian peacekeepers to Artsakh, details of its implementation are still being discussed. Meanwhile, opposition party leaders were arrested for allegedly planning Pashinyan’s assassination.

The Responsibility to Protect

The ongoing war in Artsakh has profoundly impacted the Armenian world. Photojournalist Eric Grigorian's photo essay reflects on those who have had to bear the heavy human toll in protecting and safeguarding the homeland. Images are from Artsakh, Goris and Yerevan, taken between October 24 and November 5, 2020.

Updates From Artsakh: 40 Days

The Artsakh War has entered its 40th day. More than 1100 Armenian servicemen and 50 civilians have been killed. As Azerbaijani forces attempt to reach Shushi, the President of Artsakh says that everything is being done to ensure the town remains impregnable.

Updates from Artsakh: ECHR Anniversary

While today marks the 70th anniversary of the signature of the European Convention on Human Rights, civilian settlements in Artsakh continue to be targeted by Azerbaijani forces resulting in civilian casualties and damage to vital civilian infrastructure.

Failure to Prevent and Protect

Failure to Prevent and Protect

In Stepanakert, EVN Report spoke with Artsakh's Ombudsman Artak Beglaryan about the political decisions of the international community and the reasons for the artificial parity in their vocabulary, their failure to realize that authoritarian regimes do not understand the language of statements but that of action and their failure to prevent, followed by their failure to protect.

Updates From Artsakh: Azerbaijani Smokescreen Fails

Stepanakert and Shushi came under shelling again this evening; Azerbaijani forces have started using banned incendiary cluster munitions; Lavrov says external players must use their powers to prevent mercenaries being sent to the Nagorno-Karabakh region. A chronology of official updates.

Updates From Artsakh: Forests Burning

Forests in almost all the regions of Artsakh are burning because of incendiary munitions; Azerbaijani forces attempt a large-scale offensive in the northwestern direction of the front line; Artsakh’s Deputy Minister of Defense is killed in battle. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Updates From Artsakh: A New Low

Despite international calls, mediation efforts and urgent appeals to cease fire, the war in Artsakh continues unabated. There is evidence that Azerbaijani forces used phosphorus munitions signaling a new low in the hostilities. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Updates From Artsakh: Thirty Days of War

Updates From Artsakh: Thirty Days of War

A month has passed since Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched a large-scale attack on Artsakh. To date, over 1000 Armenian servicemen have been killed, countless wounded while civilian settlements continue to be bombarded. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Updates From Artsakh: Ceasefire Collapses, Again

Updates From Artsakh: Ceasefire Collapses, Again

The U.S.-brokered humanitarian ceasefire that was to come into force at 8 a.m. local time on October 26 has not held. As battles continued, Artsrun Hovhannisyan admitted that Azerbaijani forces are at the gates of Armenia’s Syunik region, but said the situation is not dire. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Updates From Artsakh: Civilians at Risk

Updates From Artsakh: Civilians at Risk

While Azerbaijani forces continue to target peaceful settlements, Artsakh’s Ombudsman said civilians in Artsakh are at high risk as Azerbaijani subversive units move into civilian settlements and pull back. There are a number of civilians missing. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Updates From Artsakh: A Battle of Survival

As Armenian and Azerbaijani forces continue to pummel one another, battle lines across Artsakh are being drawn, erased and redrawn. Diplomacy, at least for the time being, has broken down and the future remains uncertain. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Updates From Artsakh: Breakdown of Diplomacy?

Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan said hope for a diplomatic solution is not viable at this stage as Azerbaijan is refusing to compromise. In fact, he said that Baku will not agree to anything less than the capitulation of Karabakh. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Updates From Artsakh: Shifting Contact Lines

As the death toll mounts for both sides in the war, contact lines are constantly shifting as pitched battles are taking place, primarily in the south of Artsakh; some legislators in France and the U.S. are calling for the recognition of the Republic of Artsakh. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Updates From Artsakh: A Broken Truce

Updates From Artsakh: A Broken Truce

A second attempt at a cessation of fire for humanitarian purposes failed after Azerbaijani forces began firing using artillery and small arms several minutes after the truce was supposed to come into effect. Here is a chronology of official updates.

A Record of War

A Record of War

Photojournalist Eric Grigorian captures the devastation of war, its destruction of lives, heritage sites and schools. A portrait of a nation at war, of a capital where the elderly and the grieving live underground.

Updates From Artsakh: The Battle for Peace

As one of the most intense battles since the start of the war took place today, Artsakh’s President called for the participation of every Armenian to ensure future generations live in peace, while Armenia’s Foreign Affairs Minister met with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. Here is a chronology of official updates.

Stepanakert Shelled

Stepanakert Shelled

The capital of the Republic of Artsakh was shelled twice today by Azerbaijani armed forces injuring civilians and damaging buildings and infrastructure. Photojournalist Eric Grigorian captured these images in Stepanakert.

Shamakhi: A Lost Dialect, a Lost Identity

Shamakhi: A Lost Dialect, a Lost Identity

Shamakhi is an Armenian dialect that is on the verge of extinction. While many Armenians from Shamakhi feel a sense of pride in their history and dialect, for the new generation who, along with the rest of the Shamakhetsis were forced to flee their village during the Karabakh War, the dialect is simply a matter of history.

Dokhtur’s Artsakh Fairytale

Dokhtur’s Artsakh Fairytale

When the war broke out in Artsakh in the early 1990s, Aida Serobyan was a 36-year-old doctor and mother of three. She decided to volunteer for two months as a field doctor, but ended up staying for two years until the end of the war in 1994. Although she helped to heal the injured, she herself was wounded four times on the battlefield. This is her story.

Destination Hadrut: Arman in Uniform

Destination Hadrut: Arman in Uniform

A personal essay by Gayane Ghazaryan about a trip to Artsakh to see her brother for the first time after he left for his mandatory service in the army. A day her family had always known would come but was never fully ready for. Գայանե Ղազարյանը գրում է իր նորակոչիկ եղբորը առաջին անգամ Արցախում տեսակցության գնալու իր փորձառության մասին։ Մի օր, որին նրանք սպասել են, բայց այդպես էլ պատրաստ չեն եղել։

Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte

Returning From the Line

What is it like to find yourself on a heavily militarized contact line? How does it feel to see an adversary, a mere 400 meters away, who was the reason you became a refugee? Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte, a refugee from Baku, writes about her emotional journey to the line and back.

Բարձրաձայն մտորումներ

1988: Thoughts Spoken Aloud

Vardges Baghryan, a journalist from Artsakh recounts his personal memories from the Karabakh Movement and the war. He recalls the siege on the village of Karintak and how the future freedom and independence of the people of Artsakh was forged.

There is Now a Statue of a Dove in Sumgait

There is Now a Statue of a Dove in Sumgait

Deciding never to use the word Genocide and then coming face-to-face with it again in a new context; between reading biographies of the victims of the Sumgait Pogrom over and over again and the urge to see who now occupies the homes of the Armenians of Baku and Sumgait, writer Lusine Hovhannesyan unexpectedly discovers a common yet obvious thread.

Իմ «ղարաբաղյան շարժումը»

My “Karabakh Movement”

Journalist Lusine Hovhannesyan recounts her personal memories as a university student during the first days of the Karabakh Movement. She writes, “We became beautiful and fell in love easily like young men and women living out their last days at the barricades and we sang songs of resilience in the streets of Yerevan.”

1988

1988

In this exceptionally honest and candid article, Gevorg Ter-Gabrielyan writes about his impressions from the first few months of the Karabakh Movement 30 years ago, with words he did not have nor could find at the time.

Caviar: A New Narrative in Artsakh

The Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) is slowly trying to climb its way out of isolation and one of the ways it hopes to achieve this is to produce and export ‘black gold' to the world. EVN Report visited the sprawling caviar production facility nestled in a quiet valley in this unrecognized state often referred to simply as a ‘conflict zone.’

Propaganda and the Casualties of War

Propaganda and the Casualties of War

How nations in conflict deal with loss is a reflection of how they also confront issues of war and peace. In the recent escalation near the Contact Line in Karabakh (Artsakh), an Azerbaijani child was killed. Using the bloodied image of the child by Azerbaijani authorities as a tool for propaganda speaks volumes.

A Deepening Sense of Insecurity

A Deepening Sense of Insecurity

Vahram Ter-Matevosyan writes that it is difficult to measure just how much the average Armenian was satisfied with the explanations the government provided about the scope of casualties and destruction during the April escalation. While the government was quick to praise the heroes of the war, it failed to punish those whose task it was to ensure the army was free of corruption allegations.

War Crimes in Spring

War Crimes in Spring

There has been a pattern of Azerbaijani war crimes committed since the end of the Karabakh War in 1994. The Four Day War last April was no exception. EVN Report presents a detailed account of Azerbaijani war crimes in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh).

Nagorno Karabakh: The Four Day War

Nagorno Karabakh: The Four Day War

Writer and photojournalist Simone Zoppellaro writes that the moral and political responsibility of a conflict doesn’t rest solely on the actors, or those who arm them. It rests also on the nations that would have the power to intervene and stop the hostilities but prefer to keep themselves detached or indifferent.

Spotlight Karabakh

Spotlight Karabakh

This special section is a historical overview of the disputed region of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh Republic, NKR), one of the last unresolved conflicts in the former Soviet space.