Armenia Denies Russian Military Reinforcement at Gyumri

On July 5, Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected claims made by Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) that Russia was intensifying its military buildup at the Gyumri base to strengthen its influence in the South Caucasus, Orda.kz reports, citing News Armenia.

Ukraine’s HUR alleged that Russia had begun augmenting its troop presence at Gyumri by deploying forces drawn from Rostov, Volgograd, and occupied Crimea, and was recruiting volunteers from the North Caucasus — moves it described as efforts to “destabilize global security."

This escalation was said to coincide with tensions in Russian-Azerbaijani relations, sparked by a deadly June 27 operation in Yekaterinburg, where Russian security forces killed two Azerbaijani nationals and injured others while carrying out raids. 

They also follow political developments in Armenia, such as the arrests of Samvel Karapetyan, church officials, and moves to nationalize Electric Networks of Armenia, owned by Tashir Group.

Ani Badalyan, spokesperson for the Armenian Foreign Ministry, publicly refuted the HUR’s assertions:

In response to the fictitious information that appeared in the press, the Republic of Armenia reaffirms its principled position that the territory of the Republic of Armenia cannot be used by third states to carry out military actions against any of its neighboring states, she said.