Operation Ring

E50409

Operation Ring was a 1991 Soviet and Azerbaijani military operation that forcibly deported and terrorized Armenian civilians from villages in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.


Statements (47)
Predicate Object
instanceOf counter-insurgency operation
deportation campaign
military operation
alsoKnownAs Operation Koltso
appliesToEthnicGroup Armenians
commandStructure Soviet Interior Ministry and Defense Ministry coordination
conflict Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
consequence demographic change in northern Nagorno-Karabakh
international criticism of Soviet and Azerbaijani actions
mass exodus of Armenians from affected areas
country Soviet Union
describedBySource Human Rights Watch
Memorial human rights center
endDate 1991-08
humanRightsImpact arbitrary arrests
destruction of civilian property
forced deportations
ill-treatment of civilians
languageOfAlternateName Russian
legalStatus alleged violation of international humanitarian law
location Armenian-populated villages in Nagorno-Karabakh
Getashen subdistrict
Martunashen
Nagorno-Karabakh
Shahumyan District
method forced displacement
house-to-house searches
indiscriminate shelling
use of armored vehicles
notableIncident deportation of residents of Getashen and Martunashen
objective disarmament of Armenian self-defense units
forcible deportation of Armenian civilians
participant Azerbaijani OMON
Soviet Army
partOf First Nagorno-Karabakh War
perpetrator Azerbaijani special police units
Soviet Interior Ministry forces
result civilian casualties
destruction of Armenian villages
increased ethnic tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh
mass deportation of Armenian civilians
startDate 1991-04
target Armenian villages suspected of supporting self-defense forces
timePeriod late Soviet period
triggeredBy escalation of armed clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh
typeOfAction joint Soviet–Azerbaijani security operation
year 1991

Referenced by (4)

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