The
Capture of Shusha, referred to as the
Liberation of Shushi by Armenians (
Shushii azatagrumë) and
Occupation of Shusha by Azerbaijanis was the first significant military victory by
Armenian forces during the
Nagorno-Karabakh War. The battle took place in the strategically important mountain town of
Shusha (known as
Shushi to Armenians) on the evening of May 8, 1992, and fighting swiftly concluded the next day after Armenian forces captured it and drove out the defending
Azeris. Armenian military commanders based in Nagorno-Karabakh's capital of
Stepanakert had been contemplating the capture of the town after a hail of Azeri military bombardment had begun shelling Stepanakert.