YEREVAN. – On Thursday, May 9, Armenia celebrates the 68th anniversary of the victory that was achieved against fascist Germany in World War II. 

More than 500,000 Armenians from Armenia and 100,000 others from the diaspora and ex-USSR countries, including over 10,000 women—more than 4,000 from Armenia and close to 1,600 from Nagorno-Karabakh and the rest, from elsewhere—, participated in this war. Six Armenian divisions and seven others with primarily Armenian military servicemen fought during this war as part of the ex-USSR army. Also, four Armenian marshals and one admiral fought in World War II. The ex-USSR had over one-hundred Armenian heroes of war and two double heroes.

To note however, May 9 is a double celebration for the Armenian nation. The operation of liberating the Armenian City of Shushi came to an end on that day in 1992. Sushi had turned into an Azerbaijani military base during the war that was unleashed by Azerbaijan. The aforesaid operation commenced on the night of May 8 and, as a result, the adversary fled from Shushi in the early morning hours of May 9. The Armenian side gave 58 loses, whereas the Azerbaijani had close to 200 casualties. The liberation of Shushi was a crucial phase in the Karabakh War.