Photographs from Artsakh: Humanity Has Yet to Invent the Word to Describe My Feelings, Karen Hovhannisyan

Military expert Karen Hovhannisyan made his first visit to Artsakh after the war and published photographs:

“For the first time after the active phase of the war, I was in Artsakh... I couldn’t bring myself to go; I wasn’t psychologically prepared to confront reality. I had declined my friend’s offer to go to Artsakh several times. Once I even agreed, but at the last moment, I backed out again. This time I went...

Artsakh, surrounded by Turks on all sides, remains a wounded, yet fighting territory. My camera has always captured pride in Artsakh, always the joy, but this time... This time it captured the massive craters caused by air bombs, with depths of over a meter and diameters of two meters. This time my camera captured the wounded, the moaning yet fighting Armenians filled with determination to regain what they have lost.

This time my camera captured the soldier’s trench, which has become unrecognizable after precise air strikes, and the soldier’s uniform, which has been torn apart by drone strikes. This time my camera captured military equipment with which brave soldiers have repelled enemy advances, becoming targets of several hundred-kilogram bombs...

You understand, Artsakh is wounded; you understand, Armenia is wounded... Even the grass cannot hide the horrific reality that occurred in these places 7-8 months ago... My feelings are heavy; humanity has yet to invent the word to describe my feelings...” Hovhannisyan wrote.