Russia is preparing a change of power in Armenia through blackmail and vote-buying - intelligence
Kyiv • UNN
The Russian Federation is pressuring Armenia ahead of the June 7 elections to remove Pashinyan. Simultaneously, the Kremlin is restricting imports and plans to mobilize 100,000 voters from the Armenian diaspora in Russia.
Russia has significantly intensified political, informational, and economic pressure on Armenia ahead of the parliamentary elections on June 7 of this year. This is reported by UNN with reference to the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.
Details
According to Ukrainian intelligence, the Kremlin's desired scenario is a complete change of power through the electoral defeat of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The Russian strategy for influencing the electoral process is coordinated through the Directorate for Strategic Cooperation and Partnership of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation and includes several interconnected components developed over the years
Also, at the end of May, Russia introduced a series of restrictions on the import of Armenian goods, including vegetables, flowers, mineral water, as well as cognac and wines from specific producers. Formally, the Kremlin explains this by "phytosanitary violations" and concern for product safety, while trade is being used as a tool of political blackmail.
Measures are also planned for the electoral mobilization of the Armenian diaspora in the Russian Federation. To this end, the possibility of organized transport to Armenia for citizens of Armenian origin living in the RF to participate in the voting is being considered. The potential scale of the operation is estimated at 100,000 "additional" voters, with a cost of approximately 50 million US dollars
As a reminder
Relations between Armenia and Russia sharply deteriorated after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's government intensified its course toward rapprochement with the European Union.