Yerevan /Mediamax/. The Investigative Committee of Armenia reported today that several Armenian citizens and former residents of Nagorno-Karabakh "created conditions for usurping the power in Armenia through the use of violence.”

The news release issued by the Investigative Committee, in particular, reads:

“Sufficient factual information has been obtained that citizens of Armenia S.G., A.E., A.H., E.S., A.S., as well as former residents of Nagorno-Karabakh A.M. and A.S., by prior agreement with other persons, whose identities have not yet been clarified, as part of a group, prepared to usurp the power, that is, they deliberately created conditions for the seizure of power in the Republic of Armenia through the use of violence and the threat of violence.

In particular, the above-mentioned persons for a reward of about 220,000 rubles per month, under the pretext of undergoing three-month training in the Russian Federation and familiarization with new types of heavy weapons, learning their use, and after returning to Armenia, conducting combat duty, and transferring knowledge to other persons, recruited a number of citizens of the Republic of Armenia and a number of former residents of Nagorno-Karabakh during 2024.

The recruited persons traveled to the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don in different groups, then were transported to another locations where they underwent a preliminary check, including a polygraph test, to determine their personal qualities and political views and connections with the law enforcement agencies of Armenia. After the preliminary check, the members of the criminal group placed the recruited persons at the Arbat military base, after which they conducted combat training with them inside the building.

They were informed that the purpose of the exercises was to return to Armenia and overthrow the current government, thus calling for cleaning and saving the Republic of Armenia.

After some of the recruits opposed these statements and refused to participate in the armed coup in the Republic of Armenia, S.G. and A.E. went to the place of their deployment to settle the issue and in order to continue their training, tried to formally deny the fact that they are trained for the purpose of seizing power in the Republic of Armenia. However, some of the recruited persons refused to participate in the training and returned to the Republic of Armenia, while S.G. and other members of the criminal group did not complete the crime due to circumstances beyond their control.

Criminal prosecution was instituted against seven persons for committing the above-mentioned act. Three of them were arrested and four were put on the wanted list.

The detainees were charged and petitions for arrest as a preventive measure against them were initiated in court, which were granted.

Activities are underway to identify the other members of the group.”