“Forge a blade to slay the stranger
Take whatever we desire”
It was May 9 1993 when the Armenians took the town of Shusha, which is overlooking Stepanakert. From there Azerbaidjanis shelled Stepanakert with GRAD missiles for years. It was unfair sport: for a bottle of vodka, one could walk up to the rocket unit and fire a volley. This tank was the first to reach the hill leading to the town, where it encountered its Azeri counterpart. As the two exchanged fire the Armenian tank was hit by several rounds from the opposing T-72 and knocked out. Two crew members were killed but the commander survived. After the war, the Armenians salvaged the wrack and turned it into a monument. The bunches of flowers you see in the background are those kind they bring into cemeteries; it’s also flowers on the rear of the tank. I met a flock of people there, among them the guy in the photo accompanied by a younger buddy, totally drunk. He told that he was fighting there in Shusha while all the present government was hiding behind they desks, but he would still do the same and so on. He and the elder guy in the photo, who was sober and lost in his thoughts, served in the same unit.
(via aweaze)
