35 years have passed since January 20, the heroic page of the Azerbaijani people. We commemorate the dear memory of the patriotic children who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of our people.
On the night of January 19-20, on the direct orders of the then General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Mikhail Gorbachev, military units of the USSR Ministry of Defense, the State Security Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs entered Baku and the surrounding regions, killing civilians using heavy military equipment and other types of weapons. The Soviet army deployed a large contingent of special and internal troops in Baku, which showed unprecedented cruelty towards the civilian population. The army brutally killed 82 civilians and seriously wounded 20 more before a curfew was declared. A few days after the curfew was declared, another 21 civilians were killed in Baku. Another 8 civilians were killed in areas where a curfew was not imposed: on January 25 in Neftchala and on January 26 in Lankaran. As a result of the January tragedy, 131 civilians were killed and 744 were wounded in Baku and the surrounding regions. Among those killed were women, children and the elderly, medical workers and police officers.
May God have mercy on all martyrs!