[54] The city subsequently served as a defensive backbone within Artsakh, connecting the de facto capital, Stepanakert, to the town of Goris in Armenia via the Lachin corridor.

[72] Due to the strategic advantage the city provided,[73] the capture of Shusha became a decisive moment in the war,[66][57] with Azerbaijan declaring victory a few days later.

The city is located at an altitude of 1,300–1,600 meters (4300' to 5200') above sea level,[84] about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the regional capital Stepanakert, referred to by the Azerbaijanis as Khankendi.

[85] The two settlements are separated by a valley,[86] and Shusha, which serves as a buffer zone for Stepanakert,[36] and is situated in mountainous terrain overlooking the region, has been described as a "strategic height from where one could keep all Nagorno-Karabakh under control".

[94] In February 1988, the government of the Armenian-majority NKAO voted in favour of seceding from Azerbaijan and unifying with Armenia,[95] leading to a wider ethnic and territorial conflict between the Armenians and the Azerbaijanis living in the Soviet Union.

After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the Armenians and the Azerbaijanis vied to take control of Nagorno Karabakh and the fighting had escalated into full-scale warfare by early 1992.

Novaya Gazeta reported that on 4 October, the Azerbaijani forces had rocketed the House of Culture in Shusha, where, according to local residents, hundreds of military and police officers were present.

[62] In the early morning, Argishti Kyaramyan, who had served as the head of the Armenian National Security Service (NSS) until October 2020,[163] stating that his duties in the region were completely fulfilled, left Shusha.

[46] The Armenian artillery batteries were repositioned outside the city and local servicemen set up last-minute checkpoints to ensure no male resident under 58 was leaving.

They thwarted three Armenian counterattacks, while the major Gunduz Safarli and his squad seized the building of the Shusha City Executive Power[64][175] and continued building-by-building combat.

[22][154][173] Aliyev, during his visit to Aghdam on 24 November, after the Armenian side handed it over to Azerbaijan as part of the ceasefire agreement, stated that in Shusha, the Azerbaijani forces were equipped with light weapons and engaged in combat in an "almost hand-to-hand battle.

"[156] He reiterated this[176] and added that the Azerbaijani soldiers had climb the cliffs of Shusha to reach the city during a victory parade in Baku held on 10 December, labeling the battle a "historic moment.

[66] Aliyev also announced that the Azerbaijani forces had seized control of several villages to the south and east of the city, including Chanakchi, Signag, Shushakend, and Dashalty.

[200] On 3 December, Azerbaijan's ministry of defence disclosed the total number of Azerbaijani servicemen killed throughout the war, and stated that it will provide the details later on.

[203][204] The Armenian army started to disintegrate[205] and two days after the battle, the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, announced the signing of a ceasefire agreement with Azerbaijan.

[208] In the aftermath of the war, many Armenians turned against Pashinyan, with violent protests erupting throughout the country,[209] and a common claim of him "selling out" Shusha became popular among his opponents.

Kocharyan also claimed that Vitaly Balasanyan, then the secretary of the National Security Council of the Republic of Artsakh, offered to command the Armenian forces in Shusha, but was rejected.

[212] Artsakh's self-declared president, Arayik Harutyunyan, also pushed back against allegations of treason, stating that the ethnic Armenian forces lacked the manpower to defend the city.

[213] In the meanwhile, Putin also stated that Pashinyan had the opportunity to sign a ceasefire agreement with Azerbaijan in October, with the Armenian forces still controlling Shusha,[214] though with the Azerbaijani refugees of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War returning to the city.

"[218] These statements created a resonance in the country, with political figures like Ara Abramyan,[219] Aram Sargsyan,[220] Mikayel Minasyan,[221] Naira Zohrabyan,[222] Robert Kocharyan,[223] and Zaruhi Postanjyan,[224] criticising Pashinyan.

[234] Ships moored in the Bay of Baku honked their horns,[235] and the Azerbaijanis in Moscow celebrated with a firework display,[79] while cars decorated with the flags of Azerbaijan and Turkey rallied through Brooklyn, New York.

[266] On 9 November, the day when the ceasefire agreement was signed, the Azerbaijani forces in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic accidentally[267] shot down a Russian Mil Mi-24 attack helicopter near Yeraskh, in Armenia.

"[281] On 13 November, following the ceasefire agreement, the Russian peacekeepers from the 15th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade deployed to the region set up an observation post on the outskirts of the city.

[284] The first major breach of the ceasefire that was confirmed by the Russian peacekeeping forces in the region occurred on 11 December, in an area close to Shusha, which became an Artsakh holdout after the war.

[315] On 8 November, following Aliyev's announcement, the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, congratulated Azerbaijan while addressing the crowd in Kocaeli, stating that he believed it to be a "sign that the rest of the occupied lands will be liberated soon too.

[319] Also, in Turkey, Vice President Fuat Oktay, the Ministry of National Defence, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Justice, Abdulhamit Gül, the chairman of Republican People's Party, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Mayor of Ankara, Mansur Yavaş,[320] Mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu,[321] chairwoman of the İYİ Party, Meral Akşener,[322] spokesperson of the ruling AK Party, Ömer Çelik, the head of media and communications in the Turkish presidency, Fahrettin Altun, Turkish presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın,[323] the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly, Mustafa Şentop,[324] the former prime minister and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly, Binali Yıldırım, former MP and Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mahir Ünal, General Manager of BAYKAR Defence, Member of TUBITAK Board of Directors, Haluk Bayraktar, and the president of Directorate of Religious Affairs, Ali Erbaş, former deputy leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Ümit Özdağ, as well as Turkish actor Kenan İmirzalıoğlu, and BB Erzurumspor, a Turkish professional football club, congratulated the Azerbaijani people on the occasion.

[325][326] On 9 November, Iranian MP Ahmad Alirezabeigi stated that the "liberation of Shusha city from the occupation proved that justice has been restored", adding that he was "proud and happy" for the occasion,[327] while the Pakistani ambassador to Azerbaijan also congratulated Azerbaijanis.

[328] Former Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga[329] and former Kyrgyz Prime Minister Djoomart Otorbaev both congratulated Aliyev in their positions as members of the Baku-based Nizami Ganjavi International Centre.

[332] The Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan stated that if the Azerbaijani president Aliyev approves, Bahçeli's willing will be realized, and added that numerous organizations and government bodies in Turkey were ready to "provide any kind of support.

[334] In February 2021, the deputy chairman of MHP, Mevlüt Karakaya, met with the President Aliyev, the Minister of Education of Azerbaijan, Emin Amrullayev, and other officials to further discuss the initiative to construct a school of culture and art in the region.