Russia’s 102nd military base in Gyumri, Armenia, exerts social, spiritual, and political influence on Armenia, undermining its sovereignty.

This is stated in an investigation by UIC.

Timofey Kazaryan, a priest of Armenian descent and a clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church, serves at the Russian 102nd military base stationed in Gyumri. Officially, he holds the position of assistant to the base commander, Colonel Alexander Bezborodov, for matters related to working with religious service members.

At the same time, he maintains active and close contacts with the clergy of the Shirak Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, particularly through joint events.

The clergyman’s duties include conducting individual conversations with military personnel and providing spiritual support in stressful or difficult family situations. However, according to available information, Father Timofey also engages almost daily in open propaganda aimed at undermining Armenian statehood.

According to data from two independent sources, he carries out his activities in Orthodox churches operating at the military base — in the Church of the Holy Martyr Queen Alexandra, as well as occasionally in the Chapel of Archangel Michael on “Honor Hill.”

At the same time, Father Timofey’s activities and connections are not limited to the 102nd military base. He is likely one of the representatives of the Russian state institutional network operating in Armenia.

One piece of evidence for this was a donation made in July 2023 by the “House of Moscow” in Yerevan to benefit the churches at the military base. Priest Timofey was personally present at the event and publicly praised this initiative.

It is known that “House of Moscow” is not merely a cultural center — the organization is funded by the Moscow government and serves as one of the official instruments of Russian “soft power.”

It is particularly telling that the 102nd military base in Gyumri is likely also being used to influence electoral processes in Armenia.

Armenian citizens working at the base are facing pressure. People who contacted the authors of the investigation and wished to remain anonymous due to fears of persecution by the command report that they are being forced to vote for a specific political party under threat of dismissal.

Moreover, according to them, the Russian command demands that this pressure be extended to family members, relatives, and friends, thereby increasing the number of controlled votes.

Thus, the military base command is likely violating paragraph 6 of part 1 of Article 23 of the Electoral Code of Armenia, as well as committing acts provided for in part 1 of Article 40.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses and part 3 of Article 210 and part 2 of Article 211 of the Criminal Code of Armenia.

It was recently reported that French President Emmanuel Macron called on Europe to help Armenia secure its own borders.

https://militarnyi.com/en/news/russia-102-base-armenia-pressure-on-country/