“Russia was preparing a coup in Armenia and trained militants for this. The National Security Service of Armenia revealed a group that recruited mercenaries for an armed coup. Three people have already been detained”, — write on: unn.ua
According to Yerevan, the investigators uncovered a group of five Armenian citizens, two natives of Nagorno-Karabakh and several unidentified persons who, since the beginning of the year, recruited Armenians into the Nayman Russian “Armenian Battalion” (“ArBat”).
The militants were promised a monthly salary of 220,000 rubles and military training at some base of the “ArBat” battalion. Mercenaries were taken to Rostov-on-Don and checked for ideological loyalty, including through a polygraph. It was assumed that after that they would return to Armenia and start an armed coup.
Armenia claims that part of the mercenaries refused to participate in this operation, and others did not have time to complete the plan.
So far, three participants in the conspiracy have been detained, and four more are wanted. One of the participants in the conspiracy is the commander of the Karabakh volunteer battalion “Black Panthers” and a veteran of the war for Nagorno-Karabakh Serob Gasparyan, he was detained, Pastinfo writes. Gasparyan is in opposition to the Armenian government and insisted on a peaceful settlement of the situation with Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Armenian Battalion” is a unit that began to form in September 2022 and was finally formed in 2023. Currently, he is a member of the so-called “Pyatnashka” International Brigade, subordinate to the pseudo-PMC “Redut”, which in turn is under the control of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. “Pyatnashka” has been fighting on the side of the “DPR” since 2014.
In 2023, the “Armenian Battalion” was headed by a former mercenary of the “Wagner” PVK, a native of Karabakh, Hayk Gasparyan, writes the Russian publication “Vazhnye istorii”. Gasparyan got into the PEC from a high-security prison, where he served a seven-year term for armed robbery, and already in January 2023 he received a medal personally from the hands of Vladimir Putin.
After the statements of the SC of Armenia, he accused the authorities of the republic of “leading the country to collapse and collapse” and declared that his battalion would come to Armenia only if “the Armenian people themselves appeal for help from an external enemy.”
Until 2024, the “Armenian Battalion” did not show itself in any way and acted only as reinforcements, its command said. From this summer, the formation will probably be involved in attempts to repel the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region.