Thread by @SaschaDueerkop

I've reached out to all my friends in #Artsakh over the last few hours. They confirm heavy fighting throughout the night in and around #Shushi, as well as on the outskirts of #Stepanakert.
The battle for Shushi either way will be a decisive one...

https://twitter.com/cavidaga/status/1325360385084493826

Journalists and thousands of civilians have been evacuated from #Stepanakert overnight and in the morning. Of my 20+ friends in #Artsakh, only one remains on the ground. #Shusha is almost deserted by now, obviously.

The reason is simple: #Shushi isn't 'just' a historical and cultural centre of large symbolic value. It's also the decisive location for the war. "Whoever controls Shushi controls #Artsakh" is a well-known saying locally.

#Aliyev not only announced the 'liberation' of #Shushi (which seems to be a false claim as of now), he also reiterated that he won't stop before all of #Artsakh is 'liberated'. In other words: If Shushi falls to AZ, a second siege of #Stepanakert is more than likely

If you haven't heard of the "Siege of #Stepanakert", here is an article of the Chicago Tribune highlighting the situation in May 1992, after #Azerbaijan bombed the city from #Shushi throughout the winter:
chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-19…

To give you an even better impression why #Stepanakert is in danger of constant bombardments once #Shushi is in #Azerbaijan's hands, here is a picture from the road slightly North of Shushi overlooking Stepanakert.
(my pic, 2014)

More drastically - There is 1 (ONE!) building in #Stepanakert that survived the 1991-92 siege of the city: The old theatre (not in use anymore).

Ethnic cleansing, a humanitarian disaster and the loss of at least two cities is in the making, as the intl community remains silent.

Watching old pictures and videos from #Shushi now is painful. This #Khorovats and dancing in Shushi Fortress seems so distant now 😢

(also - get well soon, @initiaty! Hopefully we will be able to dance again, one day...)