People Who Were The First To Support The Armenians Of Sumgait And Baku In The Late 80s

Dmitry Likhachev (1906-1999) was a Soviet scientist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and a member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. If troops would not be urgently brought into Baku, Likhachev announced to Mikhail Gorbachev that he would leave the Communist Party of the USSR and go to Baku to personally protect the Armenians from the atrocities of Azerbaijanis.

Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) was the 40th President of the United States. He provided Armenians from Azerbaijan with assistance in their resettlement to the United States.

Mikhail Kalashnikov (1919-2013) was a lieutenant general and the creator of the world-famous Kalashnikov assault rifle (AK). He went on strike at the arms factory in Izhevsk until troops were sent to Sumgait.

Andrei Sakharov (1921-1989) was a Soviet physicist, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, one of the creators of the first Soviet hydrogen bomb, and holder of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the first to address the Politburo with harsh criticism due to their silence on the situation in Sumgait.

Yelena Bonner (1923-2011) was a public figure, human rights activist, and the wife of academician A. Sakharov. She was an Armenian by descent. Bonner was the first to criticize Gorbachev in Soviet media and openly call the Azerbaijanis “beasts.” To this day, she is “unloved” in Baku.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) was a writer, playwright, publicist, and holder of the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was the first to bring the pogroms to the attention of the public in the United States and raise funds for Armenian refugees.

Galina Starovoytova (1946-1998) was a Russian politician, statesman, and candidate of historical sciences. She criticized the internal politics of the USSR and demanded the immediate inclusion of the NKAO in the Armenian SSR.

Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) was an American filmmaker, producer, and one of the most influential and innovative filmmakers of the second half of the 20th century. He was a participant in the program for the settlement of Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan in the United States.