Armenia to Send Citizens Returning From Russia for Paid Voting Straight to Reserve Training Camps

Armenian government officials have announced that citizens arriving from Russia to participate in the June 7 parliamentary elections will be required to attend mandatory 25-day military reserve training camps.

Taron Chakhoyan, the deputy chief of the Prime Minister’s staff, issued a stern warning in a video address posted to Facebook on June 3. He stated that those who fail to report for these exercises will face criminal prosecution.

The initiative follows reports that Russian officials are allegedly coordinating efforts to fly Armenian citizens living in the Russian Federation back to their home country to vote for opposition candidates.

Government officials in Yerevan have specifically pointed to concerns regarding foreign influence aimed at supporting billionaire Samvel Karapetyan and his "Strong Armenia" alliance, whose leader has a significant history of working in the Russian city of Kaluga.

"Citizens of Armenia who arrive for bribes from Russia to vote for Samo from Kaluga will be called up for 25-day training camps, and whoever refuses will be held criminally liable," Chakhoyan stated.

Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan, who also serves as deputy head of the ruling Civil Contract party, publicly supported the move on June 2.

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"I am very pleased because, first, our polls show that most of these people will vote for us, and second, these people are needed by us because military training is currently underway, and it will be very good: we will send 30,000 to 40,000 to the camps, and only after that will they return to Kaluga," Papoyan said.

Recent reports from Yerevan indicate that military police have already begun monitoring arrivals at Zvartnots International Airport.

Security forces have been observed handing out draft notices to male passengers upon their arrival, with officials confirming that they are assisting military commissariats in registering reservists and facilitating mandatory service requirements.

During a press conference in Moscow held on May 9, 2026, Russian leader Vladimir Putin suggested that Armenia should have determined its geopolitical direction as soon as possible, specifically proposing that the country hold a referendum regarding its potential integration with the European Union.

He argued that such a public vote would have allowed Moscow to make appropriate conclusions and facilitated what he described as a soft, intelligent, and mutually beneficial separation.

During these remarks, Putin drew direct parallels between Armenia’s European aspirations and the events that preceded Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, claiming that the situation in Ukraine began with attempts to join the European Union, which he alleged eventually led to a coup d'état and subsequent military actions.

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