Russian intelligence operatives sent to 'target Pashinyan': The Insider investigation
Russian intelligence agents in Armenia’s elections
Independent international outlet The Insider has published an investigation containing allegations about links between Russian intelligence services and businessmen Samvel Karapetyan and Gagik Tsarukyan. Both are prominent figures whose parties have submitted applications to take part in Armenia’s upcoming parliamentary elections.
“After setbacks in Moldova and Hungary, the Kremlin has directed all its resources towards Armenia, where parliamentary elections will take place on 7 June. The Kremlin hopes to prevent the victory of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party, which has pursued closer ties with the EU and the US,” The Insider wrote.
The Insider is a media outlet specialising in investigative journalism, fact-checking and political analysis.
The outlet says its investigation identifies who oversees Armenian affairs within the Russian presidential administration, which officers from Russia’s foreign intelligence service (SVR), military intelligence agency (GRU) and security service (FSB) were sent to Yerevan “to achieve assigned objectives”, and how opposition candidates are allegedly linked to Russian intelligence agencies.
The claims have sparked widespread reaction in Armenia, drawing comments from both the prime minister and the opposition.
Some details from The Insider’s investigation, as well as reactions from Armenian politicians and political analysts.
- Leak reveals secret documents on Russia’s hybrid attacks against Armenia
- ‘We know better when to decide’: Nikol Pashinyan responds to Vladimir Putin on choice between EU and EAEU
- ‘Let them bang their heads against the wall’: Armenia’s government reacts to proposal to join Russia’s Union State
- ‘There will be another revolution on 7 June’ – Nikol Pashinyan confident of public support in election
Who oversees Armenian affairs in Moscow
The Insider first outlines who, according to its investigation, coordinates the information campaign against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. In Armenia, many are already familiar with Sergei Kiriyenko, deputy head of the Russian presidential administration. He previously worked on the Abkhazia portfolio before reportedly taking on Armenia as well. However, the outlet introduces new names, including former nuclear industry official Vadim Titov, who heads the Russian presidential department for strategic partnership and cooperation.
“His start in the role was not particularly successful: before elections in Hungary, he travelled to Budapest with his assistant, Yegor Kvyatkovsky, who also came from the nuclear sector. But the campaign ended in Orbán’s crushing defeat. Now he has another chance to prove himself,” the publication said.
According to The Insider, two intelligence-linked officials directly oversee Armenian affairs: Valery Chernyshov, head of the department for interregional and socio-cultural relations within the same structure, and his deputy Dmitry Avanesov.
The investigation also names a specific official responsible for Armenia-related election issues through Russia’s foreign ministry: Mikhail Kalugin, head of the Fourth CIS Department. He previously worked as an economic adviser at Russia’s embassy in Washington. Media reports linked his name to allegations of Russian interference in US elections. Following those reports, he reportedly had to leave the United States.
“Long-familiar figures remain at the forefront of the propaganda campaign against Pashinyan — senators Konstantin Kosachev and Konstantin Zatulin. Senator Zatulin heads the international Russian-Armenian Lazarev Club, which also includes Tashir owner and billionaire Samvel Karapetyan.
At the Russian embassy, Rossotrudnichestvo promotes ‘soft power’. Under the umbrella of the Russian House in Yerevan, the organisation hosts seminars, lectures, roundtables and summer camps where participants watch films about the ‘revival of Nazism in Ukraine’. The main focus is young people, who are repeatedly told that Armenia has a future only alongside Russia,” The Insider wrote.
Who interests Russian intelligence services
According to the outlet, the main target of Russian intelligence activity is Armenia’s prime minister:
“Following the 2018 ‘Velvet Revolution’, former opposition journalist Nikol Pashinyan became prime minister and turned into the main target of almost all Russian intelligence operations in Armenia. In Moscow, officials gave him the operational codename ‘Beard’ and began actively collecting compromising material on him.”
Another figure also drew attention — Kristinne Grigoryan. She previously served as Armenia’s Human Rights Defender. After a relatively short period in the role, Grigoryan resigned and disappeared from public view for more than a year. She later became the first head of Armenia’s newly created Foreign Intelligence Service.
Observers have noted the agency’s increasingly active role both inside Armenia and abroad.
“In March this year, she said intelligence services had put pressure on Armenian citizens living overseas ahead of the elections. She was, of course, referring primarily to Russia, where more than one million people of Armenian origin live,” The Insider wrote.
Meanwhile, a source cited by the outlet and described as connected to the intelligence services said:
“We invited Kristinne to Moscow for a short placement at the SVR academy, to talk. But she went to gain experience at the CIA instead. Later, the Americans helped her build the necessary structure in Yerevan.
Of course, people looked into her personal life. They were especially interested in why she was still unmarried. They also checked who she travelled with through our channels to Beijing, but found nothing of operational significance.”
Controversial claims about candidates in Armenia’s elections
The Insider reports that, according to data it published, the FSB appears under the “employment” section for Russian billionaire and businessman Samvel Karapetyan.
“Karapetyan obtained a foreign passport in Kaluga in 1999. According to leaked offline databases, his passport file contains an Interior Ministry note in the ‘place of work’ section: ‘IC FSB’. The note means that, in the event of a background check, officials must first contact the FSB. As an Interior Ministry operative told the publication, such markings usually apply to foreigners working under FSB supervision or to confidential informants,” The Insider reported.
The outlet also recalled what it described as a “verbal clash” between Nikol Pashinyan and Vladimir Putin during Pashinyan’s visit to Moscow in April this year. Putin said pro-Russian forces should be allowed to participate in elections. Although he did not mention names, The Insider said it was clear he was referring to Samvel Karapetyan.
Pashinyan responded that Armenia’s constitution does not allow foreign citizens to participate in parliamentary elections. Karapetyan holds Russian and Cypriot citizenship.
Meanwhile, the businessman has also declared his intention to become Armenia’s next prime minister, despite constitutional restrictions that prevent him from seeking the post.
“Another Kremlin ally standing in opposition to Prime Minister Pashinyan is Gagik Tsarukyan, leader of the Prosperous Armenia party. He is also running in the elections.
Tsarukyan has a controversial background. He served in the Soviet police and, in 1979, was convicted of robbery and the gang rape of two Russian tourists. He served his sentence in the ‘Red Duck’ penal colony near Nizhny Tagil.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, when Tsarukyan had already become one of Armenia’s wealthiest people, a court acquitted him.
There is another controversial episode in his biography. In November 2004, an explosion destroyed a Niva car belonging to Nikol Pashinyan, then editor-in-chief of the newspaper Armenian Time, in central Yerevan. Pashinyan accused Tsarukyan of ordering the attack, allegedly because of dissatisfaction with one of his articles. The criminal case remains unsolved,” the publication said.
The fact-checking journalists claim that Gagik Tsarukyan is “a frequent visitor to high-level offices in Moscow”. They also note that, in February 2019, his Prosperous Armenia party signed a cooperation protocol with United Russia:
“Leaks from the now-disbanded presidential department for cultural ties with neighbouring countries — whose alleged intelligence activities The Insider has previously reported on — include a copy of Tsarukyan’s passport and a financial estimate for his 2017 election campaign.”
“Funds reached Yerevan from a special fund on Staraya Square. However, the money allocated to the Tsarukyan Bloc was most likely siphoned off within the presidential administration itself, since Tsarukyan is wealthy enough to finance his own election campaign,” the investigative journalists argue.
Reactions from Yerevan
Nikol Pashinyan: “Agents, Armenia will come for you”
“International media have published specific documents and evidence showing that the Kaluga oligarch [Samvel Karapetyan], as you know, is a covert FSB agent,” Pashinyan said.
The prime minister referred to Karapetyan’s claims that he had come to Armenia and was acting in the country’s interests.
“We have great respect for our international partners. But sending agents to Armenia to carry out covert activities and intelligence work does not fit very well with a partnership relationship,” he said.
Pashinyan stressed that the party Strong Armenia, led by Karapetyan, raises the issue of “returning 300,000 Azerbaijanis to Armenia”. The prime minister has repeatedly said that such a matter “has never been discussed in negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan”. Based on this, Pashinyan concluded that his opponent was displaying “the behaviour of a foreign agent”.
His conclusion was direct: if Karapetyan is an agent, then the party he created also constitutes an agent network. Pashinyan argued that voters in the 7 June election must decide whether they are agents or citizens of Armenia. He said he believed most would choose citizenship. As for those who choose otherwise, he warned:
“Agents, Armenia will come for you.”
Samvel Karapetyan: “The FSB employee is Pashinyan”
Karapetyan, leader of the Strong Armenia party, commented on The Insider’s publication in an interview with a local TV channel:
“This is Pashinyan’s doing. I received my passport not in 1999, but in 1993 or 1994. So I have nothing to comment on. If anyone in our country has ties to the FSB, it is only Nikol Pashinyan.”
Karapetyan also said he was ready to share a “secret” with journalists:
“The FSB employee — already a corporal — is only Pashinyan. Go ask him. Soon he will receive the rank of sergeant. He is moving up through the ranks.”
Hovsep Khurshudyan:
“The lustration Armenian authorities failed to carry out is now being done by Western intelligence services, which are publishing information about Russian agents operating in Armenia. According to this leak, the Kaluga oligarch [Karapetyan] is also a low-level informant. I think all of them should be declared persona non grata and expelled from Armenia.”
Ruben Meghrabyan:
“All so-called Russian ‘diplomats’ at Russia’s embassy in Yerevan mentioned in The Insider article should be declared persona non grata and ordered to leave the country within 24 hours. Time to act.”
Russian intelligence agents in Armenia’s elections
