On the morning of June 7, on the day of parliamentary elections in Armenia, six parliamentary candidates from the "Strong Armenia" bloc found themselves behind bars. The court approved their arrest on charges of money laundering and voter bribery. Meanwhile, their party remains on the ballot — the CEC refused to remove it.
The scheme: cash in Artashat and NGOs as cover
Armenia's Investigative Committee disclosed details of the scheme. According to the investigation, one of the bloc's candidates organized the distribution of bribes ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 Armenian drams (from ~$260 to ~$1,300) to over 100 voters in the city of Artashat in exchange for votes in the June 7 elections. Overall, more than 40 people have been detained in connection with the investigation into voter bribery.
In parallel, the Anti-Corruption Committee released an audio recording in which, according to investigators, the suspects discuss details of the scheme at the party office in Yerevan's Ajapnyak district. Defense attorneys for those involved in the case deny their clients' involvement.
"The investigation established that persons responsible for the party office in the Ajapnyak district, together with accomplices, distributed and promised bribes to voters on the eve of the June 7 elections."
— Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia
Who stands behind the bloc
"Strong Armenia" is a project of Samvel Karapetyan, an Armenian-Russian billionaire who controls Armenia's electricity grid. He has been held in custody since summer 2025 on charges of money laundering and calls for a seizure of power — charges he denies. The leader of the party list, Narek Karapetyan (no relation), faces separate charges of concealing Russian citizenship.
According to Reuters, citing five Western intelligence sources, the Kremlin in autumn 2025 created a special structure to coordinate influence operations in Armenia — in particular, it planned to transport about 100,000 voters from Russia to Yerevan and launch the media outlet "Yerevan-1" with a narrative about the need for an alliance with Moscow. Reuters did not confirm whether the plan involving voters was implemented.
CEC: Cannot remove, but can arrest
On the eve of the elections, the "Republic" party appealed to the CEC to cancel the registration of "Strong Armenia" — due to criminal cases of voter bribery. The CEC refused. Instead, it gave permission for criminal prosecution and arrest of six candidates — that is, it did not agree to remove the party from the elections, but did exclude its representatives from the campaign in the final day.
- The rating of "Strong Armenia" on the eve of the elections — approximately 6%
- The rating of "Civil Contract" of Pashinyan — approximately 32%
- More than 40 people detained as part of the investigation into voter bribery connected to the bloc
- On June 4, the EU announced a support package for Armenia worth over €50 million
Defenders of the arrested and the bloc itself characterize the persecution as political. The authorities insist: evidence was collected before the elections and is the result of routine investigative work, not an election campaign.
The key question, to which an answer will emerge after the votes are counted: if "Strong Armenia" overcomes the parliamentary threshold despite arrests and a 6% rating — would this mean the scheme worked despite the investigation, or that voters voted against the pressure?
