Funeral of those killed during the riots in Baku

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The movement organized mass demonstrations and boycotts of factories, and on December 31, 1989, it staged one of its largest actions: thousands of people destroyed the Soviet border with Iran and began crossing the Araks River. Ethnic Azerbaijanis also lived on the other bank.

The fact that the NFA was turning into a serious political force did not please the leadership of either the republic or the country.

For several days the press remained silent about the incident, but on January 4, 1990, Izvestia published an article calling the participants in the action extremists.

On January 19, the Nakhchivan ASSR, bordering Iran, announced its withdrawal from the Union and declared independence.

On the same day, by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, a state of emergency was declared in Baku and a number of other regions. However, the law allowed it to be declared only after a request from the Azerbaijani parliament, which no one sent.

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"We woke up to the sound of bullets whistling"
On the night of January 20, Soviet troops entered the city home owner database three sides. As eyewitnesses recalled, they acted harshly. They fired at dark gateways and at the windows of houses. Picketers were dispersed by tanks.

During the night, the army broke into the Baku port, where the headquarters of the Popular Front was located. It was dispersed and its leaders were arrested.

The official justification for intervention in the USSR was the protection of the Armenian and Russian populations. The media published dramatic stories of those saved.

"By the morning of January 24, 53 military transport aircraft arrived from Azerbaijan to the territory of the Moscow Military District, delivering about ten thousand refugees. These are the families of military personnel. These are women, children, old people. These are Russians," Izvestia wrote.