Armenia is facing one of the most extensive pro-Kremlin disinformation campaigns in recent years as it prepares for parliamentary elections on 7 June, according to researchers tracking the operation. By early May, 343 fabricated videos had been published, making this the second-largest such campaign observed after Moldova's 2025 election.
The campaign, which began in early March, is part of the so-called Matryoshka disinformation network, which has increasingly relied on artificial intelligence to generate content. Researchers from the collective Antibot4Navalny, which monitors bot networks, have identified over a dozen fake videos featuring Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and French President Emmanuel Macron. These videos repeatedly push the false narrative that the two leaders struck a secret deal: French electoral support in exchange for Armenia launching a war against Russia after a victory.
On 11 May, one video falsely claimed that Pashinyan's press secretary had confirmed the presence of NATO instructors in Armenia and that, following the elections, he would provoke a military conflict with Russia. No evidence supports these allegations, and researchers note that while some posts garnered tens of thousands of views, those figures were artificially inflated by bots.
Context of EU-Armenia Rapprochement
The disinformation campaign unfolds against a backdrop of deepening ties between Yerevan and Brussels. In early May, the first EU–Armenia summit was held in the country, attended by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa, and France's President Macron. The summit underscored a shared commitment to strengthen bilateral relations.
“Today’s EU–Armenia summit sends a clear signal of the EU's firm commitment to deepen our relations with Armenia, and to strengthen cooperation across many new areas, bringing Armenia and its people closer to the European Union,” Costa said. Pashinyan described the moment as “a new period of peace, of consolidation of a democratic regime.”
Two months into the campaign, and just days after the summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin drew a direct comparison between Armenia and Ukraine during a press conference in Moscow on Victory Day. He warned that Armenia could face similar consequences if it pursued closer integration with the EU. “We are all currently feeling the consequences of the situation in Ukraine. How did it all begin? With Ukraine's accession — or rather attempted accession — to the EU,” Putin said, adding that subsequent developments stemmed from that initial move.
On 26 March 2025, the Armenian parliament voted overwhelmingly to launch a process toward EU accession, a move backed by Pashinyan's Civil Contract party. Moscow has repeatedly accused Western actors of interference. As early as January, Russia claimed the EU was encouraging the Armenian government to rig the elections. On 20 January, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said financial support pledged by the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, to Armenia amounted to a “sincere” confession and an “admission of guilt.”
Storm-1516 and Broader Disinformation Networks
Alongside Matryoshka, another pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign known as Storm-1516 is also targeting Pashinyan, according to researchers from Clemson University's Media Forensics Hub. Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the BND, and France's Viginum agency describe Storm-1516 as a Russian information manipulation network aimed at destabilising democratic institutions.
Clemson's research indicates that Storm-1516 has been active since January, spreading false claims about Pashinyan's election promises and alleging that he used $11 million (€9.5 million) in funds from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), earmarked for digitalisation, to covertly finance his campaign. Ella Murray, a digital influence analyst at Clemson, noted that the campaign's methods in Armenia mirror those used elsewhere, including Moldova and Ukraine.
The scale and sophistication of these operations underscore the growing challenge European and neighbouring democracies face from coordinated disinformation. As Armenia moves closer to the EU, the Kremlin appears determined to undermine that trajectory through digital manipulation and false narratives.
