The shot was taken in Stepanakert in 1992. The author of the photo is Oleg Klimov. The Russian photojournalist had been sent to Kharabakh on a business tour to cover the war.
The photographer knew about the woman with kalashnikov in her hand only one thing – that she had come on foot from Shahumyan, where heavy battles were running. Afterward Klimov said that the woman had not been alone; there had been hundreds of refugees with her. He selected exactly that woman as his photo’s heroine, because she had a weapon in her hand.
After the war the photographer tried to find the heroine and to listen to her story. As a result of 2-week searches he found the woman portrayed in the picture – Ella Harutyunyan.
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