Under my articles and videos, users sometimes write the surnames “Putler” and “Kopirkin,” apparently implying that by criticizing the current authorities I am promoting Russia’s interests and writing under the dictation of the Russian ambassador.
And yet I have said more than once that Putin’s policies—especially since the war he launched in 2022—have been, in my view, disastrous for the entire world. Neither NATO nor the non-existent “Ukrainian Nazism” posed any threat to Russia, and the justifications for aggression are, in my opinion, absurd.
Let me add more: the CSTO turned out to be, pardon the expression, complete fuflo. When, two years ago, Azerbaijan attacked the sovereign territory of our state, that organization did not lift a finger. Russia, therefore, is not our ally, because an ally is someone ready to go to war for you (as, for example, Turkey is for Azerbaijan or the United States for Israel). The reality is obvious: we have no allies—no states ready to fight on our behalf—at all.
But I object to the approaches taken by both Armenia’s authorities and the opposition regarding Russia. The authorities, mostly through proxies, whip up anti-Russian hysteria and paranoia, linking all their critics to Russia with the hollow thesis: “they want to turn our country into Russia’s Gubernia (Russian province).” This is nothing more than propaganda, tailored to exploit the largely negative attitude of Armenian society toward Russia.
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The opposition, for its part, builds its expectations on the hope that Pashinyan will seriously “anger” Putin and that, out of his “anger,” the Russian president will help bring about regime change in Armenia. These are mistaken calculations. Putin has no interest in replacing Pashinyan with someone else—at least, not for now. By the way, this means that when the prime minister’s propagandists or fans throw around labels like “Putler” and “Gubernia,” they are either being insincere or genuinely unaware that Pashinyan is perfectly fine for Russia, and that no “hybrid war” is being waged against him.
So, if the aim is genuine political debate, and not just an exchange of propaganda blows, then Russia—as a factor in Armenia’s domestic politics—should be excluded altogether.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
