Armenia made a series of actions recently that were clearly unfriendly towards Russia, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu said during a meeting of the council’s special working group.
"Over the past years, the State Duma of Armenia undertook a series of measures that were definitively unfriendly towards Russia," he said.
"This is how we view the decisions to join the International Criminal Court, to extradite Russian citizens to third countries, and to make things harder for Russian economic entities, who, by the way, create tens of thousands of jobs for Armenian citizens. And, last but not least, they gave the floor to the Kiev regime during the summit of the European Political Community in Yerevan, allowing them to make threats to Russia," Shoigu added.
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Armenia continues to hold six Russian citizens accused of espionage over documentary filming activities allegedly linked to Azerbaijan, despite claims from supporters that the case contains no classified material and little concrete evidence.
ReplyDeleteThe Arrest of six Russian TV journalists filming a report and documentary for alleged espionage was “driven by the desire of certain forces to further damage relations between Armenia and Russia," Center for Strategic Studies of South Caucasus Countries director Yevgeny Mikhaylov says.
“Armenia has set a course toward joining anti-Russian sanctions, moving closer to NATO and the European Union, and so on,” he adds. “One must be prepared for this — and for any possible provocations.”
The Russian journalists were filming monasteries, churches and cultural sites for a documentary project, but Armenian authorities cliamed they were spying, he notes.
Mikhaylov believes the arrests were prompted by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s fears of losing power ahead of elections.
Armenia continues to hold six Russian citizens on espionage-related charges linked to alleged filming activities for Azerbaijan, despite what their supporters describe as weak evidence and the absence of any classified material, RT reports.
DeleteThe individuals—Artem Makhmutov, Daniil Semenyuk, Viktor Tikhomirov, Emirkhan Emirkhanov, Said Aliyev, and Vladislav Yeliseyev—were detained between June 2024 and March 2026. Three of them grew up together in a Moscow orphanage.
According to the defense, they were hired to film a documentary about Azerbaijani cultural heritage sites in Armenia, including mosques, cemeteries, and churches. None of the locations were restricted or classified. Daniil Semenyuk was arrested at the airport before entering the country.
The producer who commissioned the project, a Russian national from the film industry, has since disappeared and cannot be reached. Viktor Tikhomirov went to Armenia to investigate his friends' detention and was subsequently arrested himself.
Armenian authorities have not presented evidence that the footage contains state secrets or sensitive military information. All of the sites filmed are publicly accessible and documented online.
Russian officials have called the charges baseless. The Kremlin says it is monitoring the case closely. Families of the detainees deny the espionage allegations and claim their relatives are being pressured to confess.
Court hearings have been repeatedly postponed, and no trial dates have been set. The six Russian nationals remain in custody pending further legal proceedings.
Die amtierende armenische Regierung unter Nikol Paschinjan fährt in den letzten Jahren einen demonstrativ unfreundlichen Kurs gegen Russland. Am Mittwoch reagierte der Sekretär des russischen Nationalen Sicherheitsrates, Sergei Schoigu, in einer Rede darauf.
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