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The Investigative Committee of Armenia has launched a criminal case regarding an alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. This was announced on 18 May after a video appeared online showing a group of masked, armed men addressing Pashinyan directly, saying: “We know where and when you go […] you must answer for every step you take.”
“Driven by hatred and intolerance, as well as hooligan motives, they broadcast a video during a live stream containing a threat that posed a real danger of the assassination of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, related to his state and political activities and conditioned by his political views,” the Investigative Committee reported.
According to the committee, a criminal case has been opened on suspicion of preparing an assassination attempt, illegal arms trafficking, and computer sabotage—the latter related to the suspects “gaining access to closed computer network data to distribute the video during a live broadcast.”
In the video, in addition to the threats, a masked man accused Pashinyan of losing Nagorno-Karabakh and repeatedly called him a liar. He also claimed that Pashinyan wants to “give Armenia to Azerbaijan” and urged Armenians not to vote for him in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The unidentified man spoke in a Nagorno-Karabakh dialect, and the flag of Nagorno-Karabakh was visible on the wall behind him throughout the video.
Shortly thereafter, Pashinyan responded with his own insults and accusations, calling the individuals “scum” and “villains” and stating that they were from Nagorno-Karabakh but had “fled.”
“They put on masks as if they are strong men. But do you know why they wear masks? Because as soon as they take them off, we will see that these are the same people who abandoned our soldiers and fled, overcome with fear,” Pashinyan said with visible anger.
“You fled at the speed of a Ferrari — who are you to speak?” he added, apparently hinting that the individuals were former soldiers who fled during Azerbaijan’s latest offensive in the region in 2023.
He promised to find them “one by one” and called on them to surrender voluntarily.
Daniel Ioannisyan of the Union of Informed Citizens stated that this was a “clear example of a Russian false flag operation.” He described it as a “classic Russian” action aimed at framing Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, alongside other attempts to create tension and exacerbate internal divisions.
In turn, human rights activist and opposition figure Nina Karapetyants stated that the possibility that the entire plot was fabricated by the Armenian authorities should not be ruled out. She provided no evidence to support her claims.
