A wave of Russian fake news has swept Armenia's information space.

The June elections will effectively be a referendum on the future of the current government and Armenia's foreign policy, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "2026 Elections to the National Assembly (Parliament) of Armenia". According to analysts, the parties of Samvel Karapetyan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Robert Kocharyan will be key competitors in the elections. The "Strong Armenia" bloc of businessman Samvel Karapetyan, the "Armenia" bloc of former President Robert Kocharyan, and the "Prosperous Armenia" party of oligarch Gagik Tsarukyan are the most pro-Russian candidates in the upcoming elections. Since spring, the Armenian media has seen a sharp increase in disinformation directed against the government and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The peak occurred in March–May 2026, coinciding with preparations for the elections. The fakes are spread by anonymous Telegram networks, bots, and media outlets associated with both internal opponents and external centers of influence. Since the end of 2025, the bulk of the fake news has focused on elections, corruption, "external control," and relations with Russia. ¹.

The campaign is built around repetitive narratives—from claims of "Western governance of Armenia" and "foreign land acquisition" to claims that Pashinyan is preparing a war with Russia. The fakes are first published on social media and then sent en masse to fact-checkers from identical anonymous Gmail addresses. Fact-checkers attribute this to the pro-Kremlin "Matryoshka" scheme, in which the same material is replicated across multiple platforms. The campaign also spreads deepfakes, including videos calling for violence against Pashinyan.

The logos of Reuters, CNN, Spiegel, and ISW are used to create a convincing narrative. The most common types of disinformation include forged statements and documents, false quotes, manipulative interpretations of foreign policy events, and attempts to discredit government reforms. Activity intensifies during the pre-election period, as is typical of organized disinformation networks. The CivilNetCheck, FIP.am, and AntiDote Telegram platforms regularly publish analyses of such materials.

"Law on the Protection of Islam"

A fake video circulating on X ³ claims that Pashinyan's government has passed a "Law on the Protection of Islam," criminalizing criticism of the Prophet Muhammad. Another video claims that, as of November 2025, Azerbaijani businessmen have become shareholders in large Armenian companies. The videos use the logos of CNN, Reuters, Bloomberg, and Euronews. ⁴.

"The Secret Plan for the Surrender of Syunik"

The PDF document about the alleged "transfer of Syunik" turned out to be a forgery, assembled from fragments of official forms. The fake was spread in anonymous Telegram channels and was accompanied by comments about “betrayal of territories” ⁵ Later, a video appeared stating that Azerbaijan was going to name the “Zangezur Corridor” after the Aliyev family ⁶. An English-language video from the Storm-1516 network was also spread on the X social network, claiming that Pashinyan was allegedly allocating tens of millions of drams for the construction of houses for “600,000 Azerbaijanis” ⁷.

Fake cover of Foreign Policy

The fake Foreign Policy cover featuring Pashinyan uses incorrect fonts, a fake issue number, and an aggressive headline. Inside is a false "report" about Mariam Pashinyan and the theft of $80 million through the Atlix business. The article was distributed by the RussiaNews account on X. The publication denied the publication.

Since May 21, videos with CivilNet logos have been circulating on social media claiming that Pashinyan has been "diagnosed with HIV." ¹⁰. Several sites reprinted this, citing CivilNet, although it never published such information. ¹¹.

"Polls" and "Ratings"

Fake Gallup charts about Pashinyan's falling rating are one of The most sophisticated propaganda: the brand was used, but the methodology and style were not replicated. The study is not included in the Gallup Armenia or Gallup International databases. In May, a post appeared on Facebook* claiming that The New York Times "rated Pashinyan's chances low." The "screenshot" shows visible signs of editing, including Armenian letters. ¹². The New York Times did not publish such materials. ¹³.

At the same time, fake "polls" about support for opposition politicians were distributed, without methodology, sampling, or dates.

Street Polls

CivilNetCheck found that a number of Facebook pages* were publishing identical, AI-generated "polls" with negative comments about politicians – Hayk Marutyan, Vardan Ghukasyan, Gurgen Simonyan, and the "I Am Against Everyone" party. ^{14 15}. At the same time, negative videos about Pashinyan and the "Civil Contract" are circulating, while those about Samvel Karapetyan are predominantly positive. The probability of AI generation exceeds 90%. ¹⁶. Earlier in April 2026, fact-checkers uncovered an "army" of fake pages and accounts faking widespread support for one of the prime ministerial candidates, Samvel Karapetyan, and the Strong Armenia party, spreading disinformation about members of the current government. ¹⁷.

"Agreements" with Trump

A fabricated screenshot allegedly from US President Donald Trump's page was circulated on Armenian social media. The post claimed that Trump "agreed with Pashinyan to hand over Armenia's airspace to the US" in the event Iran refused to comply with the peace agreements. This was also deemed a complete fake ¹⁸.

"Accusation of Sexualized Violence"

A fake video was circulated on the X network, claiming that press secretary Nazeli Baghdasaryan accused Pashinyan of sexualized violence. The video uses the Euronews logo, but neither Euronews nor any Armenian media outlet published such a video. Baghdasaryan denied the video and alleged a coordinated campaign linked to Storm-1516. ¹⁹.

*The activities of Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) are banned in Russia.

Notes

1. "Quick Look": How Organized Fake News Networks Are Trying to Infiltrate the Armenian Media Space // civilnet.am, May 11, 2026.
2. Russian "Matryoshka" Spreads Deepfakes Containing Calls for Murder Pashinyan // civilnet.am, 05.29.2026.
3. https://x.com/TFMDMIA/status/2027120725107126420?s=20
4.  https://civilnet.am/en/news/1005740
5. https://t.me/antiDote_tg/253.
6. https://t.me/antiDote_tg/298
7. https://fip.am/ru/48947
8. https://civilnet.am/en/news/1011434
9. Disinformation campaign targets Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan's family // Armenpress, 2.04.2026
10. https://t.me/antiDote_tg/248
11. Fake news spread on behalf of CivilNet: a fabricated story about Pashinyan's HIV infection //civilnet.am, May 22, 2026.
12. https://t.me/antiDote_tg/229
13. False claim by a US-based analyst // FIP.am, May 18, 2026.
14. 10 fake videos about Armenia in one week: manipulations disguised as authoritative media // 
15. CivilNet, March 2, 2026.
16. https://t.me/antiDote_tg/255
17. "An army of fake accounts supports one of the prime minister candidates" - Armenian fact-checkers // JAMnews, 07.04.2025.
18. Trump did not declare Armenia's readiness to provide airspace to the US: a fake screenshot is circulating on social media //fip.am, 24.05.2026.
19.  https://t.me/antiDote_tg/272