Russian authorities are launching a media campaign against Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, coordinated by the Russian Presidential Office for Strategic Partnership and Cooperation (USPS). This was stated in The Insider’s post without citing sources.
The Office of Strategic Cooperation was established in the Russian presidential administration after Putin abolished in August 2024 two departments for work with foreign countries and cross-border cooperation, which were supervised by Dmitry Kozak. In September, Kozak resigned from his position as Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration. The new administration is headed by Vadim Titov, Director General of the Rosatom International Network. The work of the department, which The Insider calls “the spy,” is supervised by the First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration, Sergei Kiriyenko.
The Insider appointed Head of the Department for the Development of Interregional, Socio-Cultural Relations of the USPS Valery Chernyshov and his deputy Dmitry Avanesov as direct supervisors of Armenia in the Presidential Administration. Chernyshov served at a Russian military base in Abkhazia, and in 2013 he was invited to military intelligence, teaching the basics of sabotage work in advanced training courses for GRU officers. Avanesov graduated from the Peter the Great Military Academy of Missile Forces; In 2012, he took advanced training courses at the Moscow Institute of New Information Technologies of the FSB. According to The Insider, Chernyshov and Avanesov “repeatedly visited Yerevan and met with local Kremlin friends.”
In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Head of the 4th District of the CIS Countries, Mikhail Kalugin, is responsible for elections in Armenia. The post did not specify exactly how he “involved” in the elections.
According to The Insider, “the most active” in Armenia are the Gorchakov Foundation for Support of Public Diplomacy, “which promotes pro-Kremlin narratives,” and the National Research Institute for the Development of Communications (NIIRK), which publishes Named One of the “espionage ceilings” of Russian foreign intelligence, as well as the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, which is accused of interfering in the American elections, and “a handful of false political scientists, experts, councils, and organizations who receive funding” in the presidential administration.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Armenia on June 7. Pashinyan heads to the polls at the head of the Civil Contract Party. Its main rivals include the powerful Armenia bloc led by billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, who made his fortune in Russia and is calling for the restoration of closer ties with Moscow. Another competitor to Pashinyan’s party is the Armenia Bloc, led by the country’s former president Robert Kocharyan.
Swedish publication Blankspot I mentioned On May 9, as a result of the hacking of the email of an employee of the Russian special services, a document was obtained containing the Kremlin’s plan for a campaign to influence the elections in Armenia. It is concluded from the document that Russia’s goal is to reduce the results of Pashinyan and the Civil Contract Party in the elections. To achieve this, it proposes, among other things, to triple coverage of pro-Russian content.
The publications “That’s So” and “Agency” wrote that the Russian network of pro-Kremlin bots “Matryoshka” began a campaign against Pashinyan before the parliamentary elections in Armenia.