Stepanakert is the capital and largest city of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and was home to 60,000 Armenians on the eve of the war.

[24][25] The War ended with a ceasefire in 1994, with the Republic of Artsakh controlling most of the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh region, as well as seven Azerbaijani-majority surrounding districts outside the enclave itself.

[27] Long-standing international mediation attempts to create a peace process were initiated by the OSCE Minsk Group in 1994, with the interrupted Madrid Principles being the most recent iteration.

In August 2019, in an unprecedented declaration in favour of unification, the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, visited Nagorno-Karabakh, stating, “Artsakh is Armenia, full stop”.

[37][38][39] Meanwhile, Turkish media close to President Erdogan claimed that YPG and PKK members from Iraq and Syria were transferred to Nagorno-Karabakh in order to train Armenian militias against Azerbaijan.

[45][46][47] International third parties confirmed witnessing evidence of the use of banned cluster munitions by Azerbaijan against civilian areas in Stepanakert and Nagorno-Karabakh.

[8] The HRW investigation team did not find any sort of military sites in the residential neighborhoods where the cluster munitions were used and condemned its use against civilian populated areas.

"[8] The HRW investigation team also noted that numerous civilian buildings and infrastructure, such as children's playgrounds, business, and homes, were heavily damaged due to shelling.

[70] [71] [72] The HRW report mentions that the new maternity ward had moved its operations to the basement because of the constant shelling in the city and according to staff testimonies and video material obtained by HRW "dozens of patients and staff were at the hospital during the attack, including pregnant women, women with bleeding and other gynaecological issues, civilians with light wounds, and soldiers in the emergency ward.

"[2] On October 31, Human Rights Ombudsman of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, Artak Beglaryan, released a video from the rubble of Stepanakert’s Central market, claiming that in violation of the humanitarian ceasefire agreement signed the day before[73] Azerbaijan had shelled the market, calling on the international community to act in order to stop attacks on civilian population.

[74] [75] On December 11, 2020, Human Rights Watch released a comprehensive report about violations by Azerbaijan, also mentioning the attacks on Stepanakert using cluster munitions, Smerch, and Grad rockets, which occurred even though there was no evidence of military operations in those areas.

"[2] On February 2, 2021, Special Rapporteurs of OHCHR sent a letter to Azerbaijan expressing concern “regarding reports of indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, resulting in damage or destruction of schools, churches and other cultural heritage sites” and asking to “provide information on the steps taken to ensure respect for the principles of distinction, precaution and proportionality”.

Dual use objects such as  power plants, electricity and gas stations and the telecommunication head office located in residential areas were also targeted with indiscriminate weapons.

[76] On 8 September 2021, Human Rights Watch released a new report which says that Azerbaijan used munitions "with wide-area effects", including "fundamentally-inaccurate artillery rockets", "targeting the nearby main electrical substation struck Stepanakert’s School No.