September 27 - one of the most tragic episodes in Armenia`s modern  history 

ArmInfo.Today, September 27, 2025, marks five years since the start of the 44-day Artsakh War - one of the most tragic episodes in the modern history  of the Armenian people. The war,  unfolded in the fall of 2020,  claimed the lives of more than 3,800 Armenian servicemen, hundreds  remain missing, and thousands of families continue to live in  uncertainty.

This war signaled the beginning of the end for Artsakh. Seven  districts, along with Shushi and Hadrut, were lost. The aftermath of  the war was marked by new armed provocations and military actions  by  the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, resulting in further casualties and  territorial losses for the Armenian side, including within Armenia.  The most recent such attack was the bombing of Stepanakert and its  environs on September 19, 2023, preceded by a nearly 10-month  blockade of Artsakh. The following day, September 20, saw ethnic  cleansing and the forced mass exodus of Artsakh residents to Armenia.

On September 28, 2023, Artsakh Republic President Samvel Shahramanyan  announced that he had signed a decree declaring the NKR to cease to  exist as of January 1, 2024. The document was never made public, and  no one has seen it. The decree was signed amid Azerbaijani aggression  against the NKR and the threat of the complete physical extermination  of the entire Artsakh population. Following the mass forced exodus of  the population of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Shahramanyan, back  in Yerevan, published a decree rescinding his previous decision.  However, this year-on September 1, 2025-the OSCE announced the  official dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, which was mandated to  resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Based on a joint statement by  Yerevan and Baku, the structure will be completely dissolved by  December 1, 2025.

Despite the uncertainty and open wounds, the memory of the war heroes  remains. A house-museum has been opened in Yerevan to honor  artilleryman Albert Hovhannisyan, who has become a symbol of heroism  and self-sacrifice. Literature and art are also not standing  aside-books are being published, plays are being staged, and cultural  events are being held dedicated to the memory of the fallen. These  initiatives, seem to be the only form of public resistance against  oblivion and silence today.