Russia’s election interference playbook targets Armenia

Russia continues its attempts to disrupt and interfere with democracies in its neighbourhood. Learning from its failure in its attempt in the latest parliamentary elections in Moldova, Russia shifted its focus to the upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia – and this time with a head start, nearly a year before elections are set to take place. Russia tested the ground throughout the winter, seeding hostile narratives against the current Armenian authorities and candidates,rehashing messaging attacking the country’s cooperation and rapprochement with the EU. Now, with the 7 June parliamentary elections firmly in sight, the Russian Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) machine has been unleashed.

Lessons from Moldova

Just as in Moldova, the Kremlin is using its FIMI machine to threaten, deceive and influence the Armenian population, interfering in a sovereign state’s democratic process. It does so through a number of well-known techniques and tactics:

1. Threaten the population: In Moldova, the Kremlin used for instance its war on Ukraine to instill fear among Moldovan citizens, claiming NATO troops will annex Transnistria and drag Moldova into the war. Likewise, Russian famous propagandist and TV host Vladimir Solovyov in early January threatened Armenia and Central Asian states with a special military operation during one of his online live shows. According to him, if Russia justified launching a “special military operation” in Ukraine on security grounds, it could do the same elsewhere. His other similar shows are broadcasted on state television and are considered as Russia’s top-rated daily political talk show.
2. Attack disobedient candidates: Once the candidates are known, Moscow decides whom it will support and whom it wants down, unleashing lies, rumours and conspiracy theories supported by a flood of AI-generated content. In Moldova, President Maia Sandu was allegedly ‘trafficking children’(opens in a new tab). In Armenia, smear campaigns, which were amplified online, accused(opens in a new tab) Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan, and other government officials of… ‘child sex trafficking’(opens in a new tab). The Prime Minister was also accused(opens in a new tab) of buying a house in France worth several million euros, owning some real estate in UAE or of importing radioactive waste from France to bury it in Armenia.
3. Blame democratic process and the EU: Coming in at a later stage of the election interference scheme, the Kremlin’s disinformation infosphere targets local institutions, the electoral process or international partnerships with accusations of ‘rigged elections’ and ‘interference’, to either mobilise the pro-Russian electorate or dissuade pro-democracy voters. The narrative is launched a few weeks before election day, when opinion polls give more visibility on the prospects of Russia’s favourite candidates.

The ‘EU Interference” allegations

This “election interference” narrative is unfolding against a backdrop of shifting geopolitical conditions that have made the Kremlin’s position uncomfortable and may have provided additional motivation for Moscow to step up its information manipulation against the EU in Armenia.

This might explain the Russian Foreign Ministry’s repeated efforts to reinforce the narrative to the alleged ‘EU interference in Armenia’. While the EU and Armenia have started long-term cooperation on countering hybrid threats in the framework of their Political and Security Dialogue, Russia opportunistically dismisses and distorts the EU-Armenia partnership through official channels(opens in a new tab), supported by coordinated amplification and multilingual cross-platform posting from aligned(opens in a new tab) channels(opens in a new tab) such as Rybar(opens in a new tab) and the(opens in a new tab) Pravda(opens in a new tab) network(opens in a new tab), along with some other actors in the region close to the Kremlin propaganda efforts.

Russia’s response to democracy

On 4 March 2026 and again on 1 April, in response to Armenia and EU cooperation to counter hybrid threats, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova offered(opens in a new tab) to send a Russian “rapid response task force” to Armenia, claiming(opens in a new tab) that Russia – “contrary to the EU” – has the necessary expertise(opens in a new tab) in electoral procedures to assist the country. And indeed, Russia has significant electoral expertise when it comes to poison political opponents, close independent media, intimidate civil society organisations, shut down social media platforms, manipulate information, and ban international election observation missions. Finally, in what sounded like a warning, she reminded Armenia is member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and not a member of the EU.

Armenians alone should choose their country’s future and not put before a choice framed by Moscow. They deserve to make their choice based on organic information, free from manipulation, intimidation and fear.