It comes as relations between Yerevan and Moscow deteriorate, with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan last week announcing the country was suspending its membership of the Russia-led military alliance of former Soviet countries, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
Russia’s border guard service forms a part of the FSB’s (one of the KGB successors) structures. They are present in Zvartnots through the Russia-Armenia agreement of 1992, which does not specify the roles of Russian border guards but says they can use airports for transportation needs.
Armenian NGOs have reported that Russia’s FSB has violated the agreement by conducting a kidnapping and leaking data.
Denis Leven is hosted at POLITICO under the EU-funded EU4FreeMedia residency program.