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Ukraine Details Massive Russian Disinformation Campaign in Armenian Elections
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Russia has significantly intensified political, informational, and economic pressure on Armenia ahead of its June 7 parliamentary elections, according to a report by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (SZRU).
The Kremlin’s ultimate objective is a full regime change through the electoral defeat of incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. At a minimum, Moscow seeks to fragment the incoming parliament, stripping the pro-European Civil Contract party of its ability to make unilateral decisions on foreign policy and national securityб SZRU wrote.
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According to the SZRU, this interference strategy is being coordinated through the Directorate for Strategic Cooperation and Partnership within the Russian Presidential Administration. The operation relies on several interconnected mechanisms built up over years of influence campaigns.
The campaign began accelerating in late May when Moscow implemented targeted trade bans on crucial Armenian exports.
“Russia introduced a series of restrictions on the import of Armenian goods, including vegetables, flowers, mineral water, as well as cognac and wines from specific producers,” the SZRU stated. “Formally, Moscow traditionally explains these measures as 'phytosanitary violations' and concern for product safety, utilizing trade as an instrument of political blackmail.”
On the political front, the Kremlin is attempting to consolidate votes among several pro-Russian opposition factions, including Samvel Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia party, Robert Kocharyan’s Armenia bloc, Gagik Tsarukyan’s Prosperous Armenia party, and political projects associated with Arman Tatoyan.
To boost these opposition forces and discredit Pashinyan’s government, Russia has launched a massive social media push across Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, aiming to scale daily content reach to 2.5–3 million views.
The SZRU also revealed that Russian intelligence agencies are working on a high-cost operation to physically mobilize voters. Moscow is organizing transportation for up to 100,000 citizens of Armenian descent currently living in Russia to travel across the border and cast ballots against the current administration. The SZRU estimates the potential scale of this operation at $50 million.
The anti-Pashinyan operation heavily relies on established Russian propaganda infrastructure, explicitly linking the efforts to the Kremlin-backed Social Design Agency (SDA) and “Storm-1516"—a notorious disinformation network operated by Russia’s General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU).
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As part of this hybrid campaign, Moscow is preparing to launch a new media outlet called “Yerevan1.” The platform will target the Armenian diaspora in Russia, fostering negative sentiment against the current Armenian government while promoting the narrative that an alliance with Russia is the nation’s only viable future, SZRU reported.
These intelligence findings align with a recent investigation, which cited Western officials who independently identified the same $50 million Kremlin operation to transport 100,000 diaspora voters.
The report noted that Moscow’s preferred candidate is billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, whose party trails Prime Minister Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party—which currently leads domestic polling at 30%—amid serious concerns from Western officials regarding Pashinyan’s physical safety.
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