[6] On 18 January, the Popular Front ordered supporters to barricade the main access routes into Baku using hundreds of cars, trucks, and buses.

[4] On 19 January, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR approved the decree signed by M. Gorbachev, introducing a state of emergency in Baku and some other places in the Azerbaijani SSR.

The decree stated: In connection with a dramatic escalation of the situation in the city of Baku, attempts of criminal extremist forces to remove from power by organizing mass unrest legally acting state authorities and in the interests of the protection and security of citizens, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, guided by point 14 of the article 119 of the Constitution of the USSR, decrees: To declare since 20 January 1990 state of emergency in the city of Baku, by extending to its territory the effect of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 15 January 1990.

[10][11]The decree contravened legal acts in force at the time, which provided that the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the AzSSR would have to turn to the central government with the relevant plea.

[9] The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry officials helped Popular Front activists in stirring disorder by providing them with weapons, technical facilities, and informing them about the movement of army units.

They acted pursuant to a state of emergency, which continued for more than four months afterward, declared by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, signed by Chairman Mikhail Gorbachev.

The state of emergency was, however, disclosed to the Azerbaijani public only several hours[6] after the beginning of the offensive, when many citizens already lay dead or wounded in the streets, hospitals and morgues of Baku.

[9] General Secretary Gorbachev and other officials asserted that it was necessary to stop pogroms and violence against the Armenian population and to thwart efforts by extremists to overthrow the Soviet Azerbaijani government.

"[25] Defence Minister Yazov also said that nationalists were plotting a coup d'état in Azerbaijan: "A meeting was planned at which it was proposed to declare the transfer of power into the hands of the People's Front."

"[26][27][28][29] During the Black January crackdown, Soviet authorities managed to suppress all efforts to disseminate news from Azerbaijan to the local population and the international community.

[21] But Mirza Khazar and his staff at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty succeeded in broadcasting daily reports from Baku,[30] making it the only source of news to Azerbaijanis within and outside of the country for several days.

The Kremlin leadership tried hard to keep the outside world and the population inside Azerbaijan unaware of the intervention, but Mirza Khazar and his staff foiled this attempt.

Shocked by this development, the government of the USSR complained officially to the United States about Radio Liberty's coverage of the military's intervention in Azerbaijan.

"[32] A special session of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR was held on 22 January 1990 at the request of the public and by the initiative of a group of MPs.

The Memorial Society and Helsinki Watch reported in May 1991 that they had found compelling evidence that the imposition of the state of emergency had led to an unwarranted breach of civil liberties and that Soviet troops had used unjustified force resulting in many deaths.

According to the decree of the President of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev from 16 December 1999, all victims of the crackdown were awarded an honorary title of the "Martyr of January 20" (Azerbaijani: 20 yanvar şəhidi).