The Insider has published an extensive report on Russia’s possible influence over Armenia’s parliamentary elections scheduled for 7 June, the coordination of work on Armenia within the Russian presidential administration, and the officials sent to Yerevan to oversee the process.

The Insider opens its article with the following introduction:

“After recent failures in Moldova and Hungary, the Kremlin has redirected its resources towards Armenia, where parliamentary elections are scheduled for June 7. The Kremlin hopes to prevent incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party from winning after he pursued closer ties with the European Union and the United States. The Insider has identified who oversees the Armenia portfolio in the Russian presidential administration, which officers from the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the GRU, and the FSB were sent to Yerevan, and how Armenian opposition candidates are linked to Russia’s intelligence agencies.”

The outlet reports that the information campaign against Pashinyan is coordinated by the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation for Strategic Partnership and Cooperation (USSP), established in 2025, which is headed by Vadim Titov, a former Rosatom official who is closely linked to Sergey Kiriyenko, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Presidential Administration.

“Titov’s start in the post was not especially successful: ahead of elections in Hungary, he flew to Budapest with his aide, Yegor Kvyatkovsky, also a Rosatom official, but the campaign ended in a crushing defeat for Viktor Orban. Now, however, Titov has a new chance to prove himself.

The direct handlers for Armenia from the Russian presidential administration are Valery Chernyshov, head of the USSP department for developing interregional and sociocultural ties, and his deputy, Dmitry Avanesov. Both come from the security services. After serving at a Russian military base in Abkhazia, in 2013 Chernyshov was invited to join military intelligence. He taught the basics of sabotage work at advanced training courses for GRU officers in the village of Zagoryansky in the Shchyolkovo District, at Military Unit 36360. In the presidential administration, he first oversaw Georgia before being reassigned to Armenia,” the report states.

Dmitry Avanesov graduated from the Peter the Great Military Academy of Strategic Missile Forces and holds the rank of colonel. In 2012, he underwent training at the FSB’s Moscow Institute of New Information Technologies under a programme on “systems for assessing, analysing and forecasting the state of national security.” Both men have visited Yerevan on multiple occasions, where they held meetings with local Kremlin allies.

“In the Russian government, the Armenia portfolio is handled by Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk, who on a near weekly basis warns Yerevan of major economic problems if it continues moving closer to the EU and the U.S,” The Insider notes.

Continuing its report, the outlet notes that among the most active groups in Armenia are the Gorchakov Fund for Public Diplomacy Support, which promotes narratives aligned with the Kremlin; the National Research Institute for Communications Development, headed by Vladislav Gasumyanov, a career officer of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service; and the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, described as an analytical centre linked to Russian intelligence. It also points to “numerous pseudo-political analysts, experts, councils, and organisations financed by the Kremlin.”

“Long-familiar figures, including senators Konstantin Kosachev and Konstantin Zatulin, are in the front ranks of the propaganda campaign against Pashinyan. Zatulin heads the international Russian-Armenian Lazarev Club, which boasts among its members the billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, owner of the commercial real estate giant Tashir Group,” The Insider writes, adding that it has also detailed the ties to Russia of two opposition figures in Armenia’s political arena – Samvel Karapetyan, leader of the “Strong Armenia” alliance, and Gagik Tsarukyan, chairman of the “Prosperous Armenia” party.