Editing Stepanakert (section)

===First Nagorno-Karabakh War and Armenian control===
{{Main|Stepanakert in the Republic of Artsakh}}

[[File:Ստեփանակերտի Վերածննդի հրապարակ.jpg|thumb|left|[[Renaissance Square, Stepanakert|Renaissance Square]].]]
[[File:A view of Azatamartikneri (Freedom Fighters') boulevard in Stepanakert.jpg|thumb|Freedom Fighters' Boulevard in central Stepanakert.]]

The political and economic reforms that General Secretary [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] undertook in 1985 saw a marked decentralization of Soviet authority. Armenians, in both the Armenian SSR and Nagorno-Karabakh, viewed Gorbachev's reform program as an opportunity to unite the two together. On 20 February 1988, tens of thousands of Armenians gathered to demonstrate in Stepanakert's Lenin Square (now [[Renaissance Square, Stepanakert|Renaissance Square]]) to demand that the region be joined to Armenia. On the same day, the Supreme Soviet of Nagorno-Karabakh voted to join the Armenian SSR, a move strongly opposed by the Soviet Azerbaijani authorities.<ref>{{harvnb|Kaufman|2001|p=61}}</ref>

Relations between Stepanakert's Armenians and Azerbaijanis, who supported the Azerbaijani government's position, deteriorated in the following years. [[1988 violence in Shusha and Stepanakert|Inter-ethnic strife]] in the city in September 1988, encompassing physical attacks and burning of property, forced nearly all Azerbaijanis to flee the city. The [[Soviet Army]] took up positions in the city and announced a curfew three days later.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/russian/news/newsid_3681000/3681079.stm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810051716/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/russian/news/newsid_3681000/3681079.stm|title=Карабах: хронология конфликта|date=29 August 2005|archive-date=10 August 2011|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://karabakhrecords.info/documents_officials_zakluchenie-komiteta-po-pravam-cheloveka-rsfsr.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010193224/http://karabakhrecords.info/documents_officials_zakluchenie-komiteta-po-pravam-cheloveka-rsfsr.html|title=Заключение Комитета ВС РСФСР по правам человека|archive-date=10 October 2019|website=karabakhrecords.info}}</ref> In 1990 the army dispatched special forces units and various other elements to Stepanakert in order to prevent its takeover by Azerbaijani forces.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://mir-znaniy.com/raspad-sssr-chernyj-yanvar-v-baku/ |title=The collapse of the USSR. Black January in Baku |date=15 April 2020 |access-date=24 April 2020 |archive-date=15 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200415141517/http://mir-znaniy.com/raspad-sssr-chernyj-yanvar-v-baku/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

After Azerbaijan declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Stepanakert was renamed Khankendi by the Azerbaijani government. Fighting broke out over control of Nagorno-Karabakh, which, after three years of war, resulted in Armenian control of the region and a connecting corridor to Armenia to the west. Prior to the conflict, Stepanakert was the largest city of the NKAO, with a population of 70,000 out of a total 189,000 (Armenians at the time comprised 75% of the region's total population).<ref>{{harvnb|Lobell|Mauceri|2004|p= 58}}</ref> By early 1992, that figure had dropped to 50,000.<ref name="TIME">Carney, James. "[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,975278,00.html Carnage in Karabakh] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081130085826/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,975278,00.html |date=30 November 2008 }}." ''[[Time Magazine|Time]]''. 13 April 1992. Retrieved 2 August 2007.</ref>
[[File:T-72 Tank memorial Stepanakert.jpg|thumb|A [[T-72]] tank memorial from the [[First Nagorno-Karabakh War|First Karabakh War]].]]
During the war, the city suffered immense damage from [[Siege of Stepanakert|Azerbaijani bombardment]], especially in early 1992 when the Azerbaijanis positioned [[BM-21 Grad]] rocket artillery in Shusha and rained down missiles over Stepanakert. A journalist for ''[[Time Magazine|Time]]'' noted in an April 1992 article that "scarcely a single building [had] escaped damage in Stepanakert."<ref name="TIME"/> It was not until 9 May 1992, with the [[Battle of Shusha (1992)|capture of Shusha]], that the ground bombardment ceased. The city, nevertheless, continued to suffer aerial bombardment until the end of the war. As a result, the majority of the city was in a severely damaged state.<ref>{{harvnb|Uhlig|1993|pp= 47–52}}</ref> As of 2016, the city had not been completely restored from the war.<ref name= RU/>

The city [[2020 bombardment of Stepanakert|came under intense bombardment]] once again during the [[Second Nagorno-Karabakh War]] in 2020. Residential areas were continuously hit by the [[Azerbaijani Land Forces|Azerbaijani Army]] with [[cluster munition]]s throughout the war, starting on the first day of fighting, and residents were urged to use the city's [[bomb shelter]]s.<ref>"[https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/10/02/karabakh-main-city-struck-as-armenia-says-ready-for-mediation-a71634 Karabakh Main City Struck as Armenia Says 'Ready' for Mediation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201005020310/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/10/02/karabakh-main-city-struck-as-armenia-says-ready-for-mediation-a71634 |date=5 October 2020 }}." ''[[The Moscow Times]]''. 2 October 2020.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-10-23|title=Azerbaijan: Cluster Munitions Used in Nagorno-Karabakh|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/23/azerbaijan-cluster-munitions-used-nagorno-karabakh|access-date=2020-11-22|website=Human Rights Watch|language=en|archive-date=23 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023084426/https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/23/azerbaijan-cluster-munitions-used-nagorno-karabakh|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Armenia/Azerbaijan: Civilians must be protected from use of banned cluster bombs|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/10/armenia-azerbaijan-civilians-must-be-protected-from-use-of-banned-cluster-bombs/|access-date=2020-11-22|website=www.amnesty.org|date=5 October 2020|language=en|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126045259/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/10/armenia-azerbaijan-civilians-must-be-protected-from-use-of-banned-cluster-bombs/|url-status=live}}</ref> As Azerbaijani forces advanced on the city of [[Shusha]], the [[Lachin corridor]] was shut down by [[Republic of Artsakh|Artsakh]] authorities.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Stepanakert prepares for the last stand {{!}} Eurasianet|url=https://eurasianet.org/stepanakert-prepares-for-the-last-stand|access-date=2020-11-12|website=eurasianet.org|language=en|archive-date=9 November 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201109155748/https://eurasianet.org/stepanakert-prepares-for-the-last-stand|url-status=live}}</ref>

With [[Azerbaijani Armed Forces|Azerbaijani forces]] {{convert|15|km|abbr=on}} from the capital, a [[2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement|ceasefire agreement]] was signed on 10 November. As part of the agreement, [[Russia]]n peacekeepers were deployed to the region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/64384|title=Statement by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and President of the Russian Federation|website=[[Kremlin.ru]]|date=10 November 2020|access-date=18 December 2021|archive-date=11 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111212431/http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/64384|url-status=live}}</ref> Following the war, the population of Stepanakert swelled to 75,000 residents as a result of some 10,000 to 15,000 displaced people who lost their homes elsewhere in the Republic of Artsakh during the war.<ref name= Karen>{{cite web|last= Khachatryan|first= Karen|editor= Stepan Kocharyan|title= Drought leads to "unprecedented" water crisis in Stepanakert city|date= 13 August 2021|website= armenpress.am|location= Stepanakert|publisher= [[Armenpress]]|url= https://armenpress.am/en/article/1060676|access-date= 18 December 2021|url-status= live|archive-date= 2 July 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220702091347/https://armenpress.am/eng/amp/1060676}}</ref>