Lawyer Siranush Sahakyan, President of the International and Comparative Law Center and legal representative of Armenian prisoners before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), has lodged an application with the court in the case of Ruben Vardanyan, who is currently held at the Umbaki Penitentiary Complex in Azerbaijan.

Armenpress presents below Sahakyan’s statement in full:

“On July 19, 2026, I submitted an official application to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) regarding the case of Ruben Vardanyan, a citizen of the Republic of Armenia currently held at the Umbaki Penitentiary Complex in Azerbaijan. I will be representing Ruben Vardanyan’s interests before the ECtHR. 
The application details violations of eight articles of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the Convention), supported by comprehensive legal and factual arguments. 
The Baku Military Court issued its verdict in Ruben Vardanyan’s case on February 17, 2026, sentencing him to 20 years in prison. The court did not read the judgment in its entirety. 
Later, from the verdict made available through his family, it became clear that Vardanyan was found “guilty” on 41 counts, based on 21 articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. 
Vardanyan’s individual guilt was not substantiated by facts or evidence in the verdict. Instead, the court concluded that the “criminal community,” referring to the administration of the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh, had operated in Nagorno-Karabakh since 1988, and that Vardanyan joined this “community” in December 2020, even though he was residing in Moscow at that time. 
The court interpreted Vardanyan’s assumption of a civilian administrative post as a violent seizure of power, his commercial and charitable activities as illegal entrepreneurship and financing of terrorism, and his entry into Nagorno-Karabakh through the Lachin Corridor as an illegal crossing of Azerbaijan’s state border. 
Vardanyan did not appeal the verdict, considering the trial staged and predetermined, and all domestic remedies ineffective. Indeed, it is impossible to protect one’s rights within a system that inherently denies the right to a fair trial. In these circumstances, he chose to seek justice through international legal mechanisms.”

A postage stamp dedicated to the 100th birth anniversary of renowned Armenian footballer and coach Nikita Simonyan has been issued on July 22, 2026, HayPost said.

According to the company, the 380 AMD stamp features Nikita (Mkrtich) Simonyan (1926–2025) against the backdrop of a photograph of the Ararat football team.

The stamp also bears the inscriptions “100th Anniversary” and “Nikita (Mkrtich) Simonyan” in Armenian and English.

Issue date: July 22, 2026

Designer: Vahagn Mkrtchyan

Printer: bpost Philately & Stamps

Printing, Belgium

Stamp size: 40.0 × 40.0 mm

Stamps per sheet: 8

Print run: 10,000

During her visit to Addis Ababa, Anna Hakobyan, spouse of the Prime Minister of Armenia and Executive Director of the My Step Foundation, visited St. George Armenian Church, accompanied by Salpi Nalbandian of the Armenian community of Ethiopia and Armenian Ambassador Sahak Sargsyan.

The My Step Foundation reported this.

An Armenian chapel was built in Addis Ababa in 1923. After 1935, St. George Church was established on the same site at the initiative of benefactor Mihran Muradian.

Empress Menen Asfaw of Ethiopia also attended the church’s opening ceremony, symbolizing the important role and standing of the local Armenian community in the country’s public life.

It is Ethiopia’s only functioning Armenian Apostolic church and serves as the seat of the Ethiopian pastorate operating under the Armenian Diocese of Egypt. To this day, it coordinates the spiritual life of the approximately 100 Armenian Apostolic faithful living in Ethiopia.

Hakobyan toured the church, visited the choir gallery and viewed old books containing the liturgy and hymns of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

As part of the visit, Hakobyan also toured the Gevorgian Seminary adjacent to the church and visited the community’s Armenia sports hall.

FlyOne Armenia airline will launch flights to Dushanbe, Tajikistan, starting August 22.

According to a press release issued by Armenia International Airports, round-trip flights on the Yerevan-Dushanbe-Yerevan route will operate twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The number of beneficiaries covered by Armenia’s Universal Health Insurance system increased significantly in the first half of 2026, reaching nearly 1.8 million.

The figures were presented by Samvel Kharazyan, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Universal Health Insurance Fund, as he summarized the fund’s performance during the first six months of the year.

Kharazyan said the fund is required to carry out ongoing public awareness activities and publish quarterly reports on a regular basis as part of its continuing functions. He noted that the fund’s quarterly performance reports are available on its website and are accessible to the public.

“Since the Universal Health Insurance system came into force on January 1, 2026, the total number of insured citizens has increased by approximately 14 percent. At the beginning of the year, we projected that the system would have around 1.6 million beneficiaries in 2026. However, according to data for June, the number of beneficiaries has reached nearly 1.8 million, with salaried employees and individual entrepreneurs accounting for the largest share. In other words, this increase has been driven primarily by the growth in the number of beneficiaries earning a monthly salary of 200,000 drams or more,” Kharazyan said.

According to him, the increase has also been driven by the country’s economic growth, the creation of new jobs and the growing importance of the healthcare system.

Kharazyan also said that 762,404 of the nearly 1.8 million beneficiaries have used one or more services provided under the system, while 35,961 beneficiaries have received medicines.

He said the figures also indicate that people who had previously been unable to receive medical care because of financial difficulties are now able to access services provided under the system.

“During these six months, beneficiaries have already received 102.4 billion drams worth of reimbursed medical services and medicines. According to the data, the largest share of the fund’s expenditures has been directed toward expensive surgical procedures, as well as less costly but necessary operations. These procedures have also contributed to improving people’s quality of life and extending life expectancy,” Kharazyan said.

Armenia’s Universal Health Insurance system came into force on January 1, 2026. During the first phase, the system covered people earning a monthly salary of 200,000 drams or more, persons with disabilities, pensioners aged 65 and over, and children under the age of 18.

The Yerevan Mayor’s Cup international boxing tournament has got underway.

According to a statement issued by the Yerevan Municipality, the tournament kicked off on July 21.

Around 100 boxers from 10 countries are taking part in the tournament and will compete for top honors over the next several days.

The tournament is included in the official calendar of European Boxing, the continental federation of World Boxing.

The finals will take place on July 25 at 3:00 p.m.

Major General Ashot Zakaryan, Head of the Military Police of Armenia’s Ministry of Defence, received a delegation led by Major General Shalva Shengelia, Head of the Military Police Department of the Georgian Defence Forces, on July 21.

According to the Armenian Ministry of Defence, the Georgian delegation is on a three-day visit to Armenia to exchange experience and promote cooperation in the field of military policing.

Reaffirming the agreements reached in October last year, the two sides presented the structure, functions and operational specifics of their respective units, and discussed opportunities for expanding cooperation, exchanging experience and strengthening partnership.

The delegation later toured the Military Police premises. At the conclusion of the visit, the heads of the two military police bodies planted a spruce tree together in the Fir Grove as a symbol of the continuing cooperation and friendship between the military police services of Armenia and Georgia.

The Vazgen Sargsyan Military Academy and the National Defence Research University of Armenia’s Ministry of Defence have become Associate Network Partners of the European Security and Defence College (ESDC), Armenian Defence Minister Suren Papikyan said in a Facebook post.

“Since July 20, the Vazgen Sargsyan Military Academy and the National Defence Research University of the Ministry of Defence have joined the European Security and Defence College family as Associate Network Partners,” Papikyan wrote.

The Armenian Ministry of Defence also issued a statement on the matter.

“Based on the recommendation of the Executive Academic Board of the European Security and Defence College on June 11, the College’s Steering Committee unanimously approved the candidacies of the Vazgen Sargsyan Military Academy and the National Defence Research University on July 3, granting them the status of Associate Network Partners. The matter was subsequently submitted to the European Union member states for approval under the silence procedure.

Earlier, on June 10-11, a delegation led by Major General Artur Yeroyan, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, participated in a meeting of the Executive Academic Board of the European Security and Defence College at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, during which the proposal to grant Associate Network Partner status to the National Defence Research University and the Vazgen Sargsyan Military Academy was discussed,” the statement said.

The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 22 July, USD exchange rate up by 0.21 drams to 366.89 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 0.39 drams to 418.36 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.0289 drams to 4.6857 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.44 drams to 490.57 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 602 drams to 47800 drams. Silver price up by 24.91 drams to 694.65 drams.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a phone conversation with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the two leaders exchanged views on current regional and international issues. They also discussed the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Both sides underscored the importance of lasting and sustainable peace in the region.

Prime Minister Pashinyan and Chancellor Merz also discussed the continued development of bilateral cooperation between Armenia and Germany, as well as the prospects for further deepening the Armenia-European Union partnership.