Two Russian Soldiers Detained in Armenia After Alleged Group Attack on Ukrainian National

Armenian authorities in Gyumri have detained two Russian servicemen suspected of launching a group assault on a Ukrainian citizen.

According to Radio Free Europe, the victim, Dmytro Samuilenko, reported to local police that two Russian military personnel beat him approximately one month ago in the city’s Ani district.

Armenia’s Investigative Committee initiated a formal inquiry into the alleged physical assault and ordered a forensic medical examination to assess the injuries.

Criminal proceedings were launched against the 2 Russian soldiers on charges of inflicting minor bodily harm, though law enforcement officials have not publicly disclosed their names. Both suspects were arrested and transferred to an Armenian correctional facility while investigators work to clarify the circumstances and motives behind the encounter, Radio Free Europe reported.

This incident follows earlier reports of potential violence linked to Russian military personnel based in Armenia. Rights advocate Artur Sakunts, head of the Vanadzor branch of the Helsinki Citizen’s Assembly, stated that his office received video footage depicting Russian troops striking and degrading a young man.

Sakunts submitted an official crime report to the Prosecutor General’s Office, but state authorities have not yet issued an update regarding that investigation.

Read more

Category

World

Russian War Criminal Torden Seeks Lighter Sentence in Finland After Life Term Cut to 12.5 Years

Nov 09, 2026 16:05

Neither representatives from the Russian military base in Gyumri nor the Russian Embassy in Yerevan have issued public statements concerning either of these cases.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine triggered a massive refugee wave into EU countries, where many Ukrainians faced hate-motivated violence and physical assaults over a two-year period. In September 2023, three Ukrainian teenagers were stabbed and punched in Edinburgh, Scotland, leading Police Scotland to arrest a 12-year-old suspect.

The following year saw a string of fatal attacks in Germany: 17-year-old basketball player Volodymyr Yermakov died after a knife attack in Düsseldorf in February 2024, a 27-year-old Ukrainian woman was murdered in the Rhine-Neckar district while her infant daughter was kidnapped by a couple including a Russian national, and two Ukrainian soldiers were fatally stabbed outside a Bavarian shopping center in April 2024 by a 57-year-old Russian suspect.

Although European law enforcement agencies swiftly launched investigations and detained several suspects across these cases, the frequency of these violent incidents highlighted a need for enhanced protection and justice for Ukrainian victims across Europe.

Truth is Under Attack

We report the war as it unfolds directly from the people and places most affected by it. Your support helps us bring these stories to the world.

SUPPORT