Vladimir Putin thought Armenia was firmly under Moscow’s influence—but a stunning election result has shattered that illusion. Despite Russian pressure, economic threats, and alleged interference, Armenian voters delivered a decisive victory to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his pro-Western vision. As Armenia moves further from the Kremlin’s orbit, Putin faces yet another geopolitical setback. Is this the beginning of Russia’s declining influence across its former sphere? Watch to find out.
00:00 - Putin’s Major Betrayal
02:53 - Global Support for Armenia
05:20 - Russia's Failed Election Plot
07:44 - The Pro-Kremlin Meltdown
11:05 - Escaping Moscow's Grip
14:39 - Putin’s Crumbling Empire
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SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/3DUfgyT7
00:00 - Putin’s Major Betrayal
02:53 - Global Support for Armenia
05:20 - Russia's Failed Election Plot
07:44 - The Pro-Kremlin Meltdown
11:05 - Escaping Moscow's Grip
14:39 - Putin’s Crumbling Empire
Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join
#militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis
#themilitaryshow
SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/3DUfgyT7
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NewsTranscript
00:00As he kept all of his focus on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin didn't feel the blade slowly kissing his
00:05back. Up the blade went slowly but surely, until finally it was plunged into the Russian leader's
00:13spine. A massive betrayal has just happened, and it's been done by a country that Putin thought
00:19he had in his pocket. Armenia. Proving that nobody fears Russia anymore, Armenia has backstabbed
00:27Putin. Election results don't favor the Kremlin. Threats aren't working anymore. Russia just lost
00:34Armenia, and all that Putin can do is watch. On June 8th, the news broke that Putin and Russia
00:41had utterly failed in their attempts to tamper with Armenia's elections. What may go down as the most
00:47important election in decades for Armenia resulted in Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's civil contract
00:54party, securing 49.8% of the vote. Putin's favorite party, the Strong Armenia Alliance Group,
01:02managed just 23.2% of the vote. That was enough to put them in second place, though at less
01:08than half
01:08of what Pashinyan's party achieved, that second place vote will feel like a dagger plunged right
01:13into Putin's back. Russia's leader thought he'd done enough. Dirty tactics were supposed to decide
01:19the Armenian elections in Russia's favor, but the country's people have just collectively stood up
01:24and told Putin where to stick his election interference. And there was plenty of that
01:29interference. As The Economist points out, Armenia's elections were conducted under the black cloud of
01:35Russia banning the import of many of the goods that it purchases from Armenia. Water, roses, wine,
01:41cherries, strawberries, and even cognac were on the ban list as Putin tried to send a message,
01:46vote how I want or Armenia loses untold millions, if not billions of dollars in trade with Russia.
01:53And Putin's threat was credible, as the Observatory of Economic Complexity points out.
01:58Russia is one of Armenia's largest export partners, ranking second among the country's buyers,
02:04with $3.14 billion worth of imports annually. Russia also sells a lot to Armenia, delivering $9.24
02:11billion worth of goods and services to Armenia every year. Putin was piling on the
02:16pressure, in the only way that he knows how, to ensure that the Armenian elections ended up going
02:21in his favor. He wanted to create fear, not of a rampaging Russian army. Armenia was supposed to
02:27be a friend, not a potential foe. No, Putin wanted everyday Armenians to fear the economic issues that
02:33could arise if they decided to turn their back on Russia and vote for a prime minister who has been
02:38slowly moving the country toward the west and further away from Putin's grasp. None of it worked.
02:43The threats, the intimidation and the trade bans all resulted in nothing, as Putin could do nothing
02:49but watch as the majority of Armenians rejected Russification. This is a huge win. Not just for
02:55Armenia, but the entire western resistance to Russian influence, and in terms of how it's another sign
03:00that Putin's geopolitical reach doesn't extend anywhere near as far as Russia's leader wants you
03:05to think. Pashinyan made it clear why this vote matters so much for Armenia. The Armenian people voted for
03:12regional prosperity and cooperation, the prime minister declared. A former journalist who
03:17entered office back in 2018 after helping to lead a peaceful uprising against the Kremlin-friendly
03:22government of old, Pashinyan has been a constant thorn in Putin's side ever since. He is a reminder
03:28to Putin that he can't have things all his own way, even in relatively small countries where Russia's
03:33tactics of influence have a chance of working. For eight years, Pashinyan has been seeking closer
03:38ties with the West, including the European Union and the US, and he has also worked to mend fences
03:44with historical rivals, all to create a closer and more unified nation. Putin hates unity.
03:50With unity comes the collapse of Russia's main strategy of exploiting division, and on June 8th,
03:56the Armenian people showed Russia that they are still unified behind a leader who is guiding them
04:01further and further away from Russia's influence. But as big a win as this is for Armenia itself,
04:07some might say that it's an even bigger win for the Western powers that are trying to force Putin
04:11into realizing that he isn't as powerful as he thinks he is. In the wake of the results,
04:16French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the Armenian people's collective decision,
04:20noting that it highlights a shift toward deeper European integration.
04:24More support came from the UK's Ambassador Alexandra Kohl, who praised the way the election was conducted
04:30and pledged the UK's support in maintaining Armenia's democratic institutions. Ukrainian President
04:35Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the result too, stating that he was eager to deepen ties with the country
04:40as he urged the EU to engage deeper with Armenia as it follows the path of Western reform.
04:46And speaking of the EU and Europe as a whole, the President of the European Commission,
04:51Ursula von der Leyen, said that the result showed that the
04:54The spirit of the velvet revolution you led in 2018 is alive and well in a message to Pashinyan,
04:59while pointing out the EU had offered a $58 million aid package to Armenia on June 4th
05:04to counter Russia's attempt at economic blackmail with the promise of more to come in the future.
05:09These reactions tell the story of what Pashinyan's victory on June 8th really means.
05:14Every enemy of Russia is happy that Pashinyan won, which tells you just how massive this result was.
05:19But as for Russia, let's just say that Putin isn't best pleased about what he sees as a massive betrayal
05:26by a country that he thought he could manipulate.
05:28We spoke about Putin's pressure tactics a few minutes ago.
05:32Those tactics extended far beyond the economic blackmail that was supposed to sway Armenian voters
05:37in the days ahead of them entering the polling stations.
05:40Russia tried plenty more beyond that, with some of its tactics being more covert than others.
05:45In a May 29th report, Reuters revealed that Russia had intensified a disinformation campaign
05:51designed to sway votes in favor of pro-Russian candidates.
05:55That's according to five Western intelligence officials, as well as documents revealed to Reuters,
06:00the outlet said.
06:01On top of this campaign, Russia went down the far more overt route of developing a scheme to transport
06:06tens of thousands of Armenian Russians into Armenia solely so they could vote in the election.
06:11The intelligence officials Reuters spoke to revealed that Russia had priced up the plan
06:16and came to a figure of $50 million to transport 100,000 voters.
06:21By the middle of May, Russia had reportedly even drawn up regional quotas as it tried to determine
06:26where best to place these migrant voters ahead of the election.
06:29Reuters says it isn't clear if Russia ever managed to follow through on this planning,
06:33but now it doesn't matter. Putin lost and Pashinyan won.
06:37Pressure from Russia also came in the form of vague threats and attempts to push Armenia
06:41into referendums that Putin hoped would disrupt the vote even more.
06:45At the beginning of April, Putin issued a very public warning to Armenia,
06:49claiming that the country now had to choose between the European Union and Russia.
06:53But it should be obvious and honestly stated up front that membership in a customs union
06:57with both the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union is impossible, Putin said in a warning delivered
07:03straight to Pashinyan. The Eurasian Economic Union is a loose economic bloc, including Armenia,
07:08Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. It was established in 2015 and is supposed to encourage
07:13free trade and movement of labor between all members. Russia lords over the group with Putin's
07:18warning implying that he would cut Armenia out of it if it ventured closer to the EU with a vote
07:23that didn't go Russia's way. Still, none of it worked. Armenia's people have shot a message right
07:28back to Putin that they aren't scared of the big bully of Europe. If losing access to one union to
07:33gain
07:34access to one far larger and more supportive is the price that Armenia has to pay to keep Russia
07:39out of its politics, then the country's people have just indicated that they are willing to pay it.
07:44And then there's Samvel Karapetyan. Who's that, you hear you ask? He's the leader of the pro-Russian
07:49strong Armenia party that came a distant second in the country's elections and he isn't happy.
07:55Tantrums are being thrown in the pro-Kremlin mansion of a man who was all set up to become Putin's
07:59lapdog. But before we get into that, this is a reminder that you are watching the military show.
08:04This is precisely why we make these videos, to expose how power moves and why it all matters.
08:10If you like what you see, remember to subscribe so you catch more of our videos.
08:15In the wake of Armenia's elections, Karapetyan was interviewed in his massive mansion,
08:20where he currently sits under house arrest after being accused of calling for his country's
08:24government to be overthrown. Karapetyan denies the charge, and now that he's lost the election,
08:29he's going to be spending a lot of time getting even more closely acquainted with the walls that
08:33have surrounded him for weeks. Karapetyan raged that the election results were a disgrace,
08:39as he claimed that 70 members of his team had been detained and over 700 people were arrested
08:44during the election. They decided to engage in inexplicable actions on election day. There has
08:49never been a case in world history where vote counting is interrupted and officials say they
08:53will announce the results at 9am the next morning. Seeing that their results were declining every
08:58minute they stopped the count, the failed candidate claimed. There appears to be no evidence of
09:03these allegations or of the electoral fraud that Karapetyan now alleges took place. The leader of
09:09Armenia's most prominent pro-Russia party is now calling for the result to be annulled, giving him
09:14another chance to benefit from Russia's blackmail, disinformation, and migrant voter tactics. Putin
09:20hasn't said much, but his favorite mouthpiece, Dmitry Peskov, has spoken for Russia's leader, as he made vague
09:26allegations of violations during Armenia's elections. Seriously Peskov, are you of all people going to
09:32accuse another country of holding unfair elections? You live in Russia under Vladimir Putin. Granted,
09:38that means if anybody knows what election violations look like, it's you. But the only evidence of
09:44violations happening in Armenia's elections comes from what Russia has spent months trying to do to sway
09:48the vote in its favor. Of course, all of this is nonsense. The Council of Europe reports that Armenia's
09:54voters were offered a genuine choice between candidates in the country's elections, even
09:59though the elections took place under challenging circumstances. Despite the arrests and Russian
10:03interference, the election process itself was governed by revised election-related laws and
10:08regulations that provide a sound basis for democratic elections, the Council said. The Economist also
10:14reports that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe labeled the election transparent and
10:19efficient. The reality that Karapetyan has to accept is that getting into bed with Russia gave him and
10:25his party a very bad case of fleets. Nothing in the wannabe leader's policy packet and messaging appealed
10:31enough to Armenia's people to convince them to change course, even as Russia's disinformation gremlins
10:37worked away in the background. All the Karapetyan had to offer was tired nationalism, a promise that Armenia
10:44would build closer ties to Russia when most of the country wants the opposite, and a weird proposal for the
10:48establishment of a Ministry of Sex to tackle falling fertility and ensure there will be no unsatisfied
10:55women. Karapetyan thought this big idea would be the climax that the Armenian people needed.
11:01In the end, it was a flaccid failure. The big question now is what happens in the future?
11:06Armenia's people have made their decision, and Pashinyan is still in. One thing that's important to point
11:11out is that Russia is bruised, but it's still going to try to influence the direction that Armenia takes
11:16from here on out. The European Policy Center points that out, noting that even as Armenia has voted West,
11:22it still can't disentangle itself from Russia, at least not immediately. Pashinyan won a little
11:28under 50% of the vote, which is shy of the two-thirds majority that he needs to make alterations
11:34to
11:34Armenia's constitution, thus leaving the door open for Russian exploitation. That also means that Pashinyan
11:40can't remove the vague claims to ownership over Nagorno-Karabakh in that constitution, which
11:45Azerbaijan says needs to be removed if it's to sign a peace treaty with Armenia. Russia is also still
11:51an important trading partner for Armenia, and Putin will likely try to lean even more heavily on that
11:55fact to make the first few months of Pashinyan's latest term more painful than they ought to be.
12:01But though these challenges can't be ignored, the knife in Putin's back feels so deep because Russia's
12:06leader knows that the winds of change are coming for Armenia. We mentioned Azerbaijan. That nation,
12:12along with Turkey, has a contentious relationship with Armenia that is fuel for the Kremlin fire.
12:18Russia thrives on discontent and division. It loves the chaos that comes when nations disagree
12:22with one another because that chaos creates opportunities. But that chaos may start slowly
12:28fading away over the next few years. A peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan isn't going to be
12:33signed as long as the latter has its key condition in place. But as the Carnegie Endowment points out,
12:38opportunities for deeper Western integration should be taken now. July's NATO summit in Ankara offers
12:44Turkey a chance to organize a meeting between the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and major
12:50Western powers such as the US that could start to help the frost thaw. Let trade begin and people move,
12:55the endowment says, as it argues that Pashinyan's victory is one step closer to the normalization that
13:00needs to happen in Armenia for Russia's influence to be dispelled. Those are the sorts of geopolitical
13:06moves that Putin would hate to see, but they won't come immediately. What is more immediate is that
13:11Armenia has signaled that it wants to cement its shift away from Putin and his twisted politics.
13:15Pashinyan even made that point in his victory speech. In the same breath where he said that
13:19Armenians had voted for peace, prosperity, and regional cooperation, Armenia's prime minister also said,
13:25I hope this will be met with a positive response from Turkey and Azerbaijan. That makes it pretty
13:30clear where Pashinyan's priorities lie and they are not with Putin. Pashinyan also has a direct
13:35endorsement from US President Donald Trump, who The Guardian reports has called Armenia's prime minister
13:41a great friend and leader. All of these are bad signs for Russia. But what would hurt Putin the most
13:47is
13:47if the European Union decided to pull the trigger on Armenian membership. Under Pashinyan, Armenia passed a law to
13:53begin the process of gaining membership to the EU, which happened about a year after the group said
13:58it would be willing to welcome Armenia. About a month before Armenia's pivotal election,
14:02von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa also released a joint declaration,
14:08where they said they were committed to institutional integration, security cooperation,
14:12economic modernization, connectivity investment, and political backing, as Armenia works to make
14:18itself more EU compatible, the Center for European Policy Studies points out.
14:23All signs are pointing to Armenia drawing ever closer to EU membership.
14:27If the EU decides to fast-track the accession process, it not only gains a new ally but would
14:32deliver a massive blow to Putin's goal of controlling huge swathes of Europe through coercion and disinformation.
14:39And so we come back to Putin. He has just lost a nation that he thought he could control.
14:44That's a big enough problem. But the real problem for Putin is this. He has once again been exposed on
14:50the global stage. Ever since he invaded Ukraine, Putin has seen his allies drop like flies. He had
14:57already made his country a pariah among the West with the invasion itself, but the last few years have
15:02seen him lose Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, and Ali Khamenei in Iran. Those are
15:09three major allies that allowed Russia to exert its influence in Asia and South America.
15:14Adding to the pain is the loss that Russia absorbed just a couple of months before Armenia sent its
15:19message that it wants nothing more to do with Russia. Hungary, which is an EU member and was
15:24arguably Russia's biggest ally on the continent, did the exact same thing. Viktor Orban is out. A new
15:31government is in play in Hungary, and that means Putin has lost his ability to block EU measures by way
15:36of
15:36one of his puppets. This is what collapsing geopolitical influence looks like. Armenia's
15:42elections are just the latest example that all of the tampering and disinformation in the world
15:47can't hide the fact that Putin is a shriveled shrimp trying to play the role of geopolitical strongman.
15:52What is likely to happen next is the deepening of the diplomatic rift between Russia and Armenia.
15:58The Kremlin will play this off as though it's no big deal. The Kremlin is lying,
16:02as Armenia goes from drifting closer to the west to setting a dedicated course toward becoming a
16:07member of the EU. All that Putin and his cronies can do is watch as their machinations have failed
16:12once more. Before the Ukraine invasion, this sort of collapse would have been impossible to foresee,
16:18but Putin has shown his true colors, and former allies are becoming foes. Armenia just showed him why
16:24that matters. A country that Putin could count on as a trade ally and diplomatic buffer has just told Russia
16:31where to shove it. The fear is gone, and Putin knows it. He's watching Armenia's post-Soviet-era
16:37dependence on Russia slip away in real time. All of this, from the loss of Armenia to the collapse
16:43of Putin's geopolitical influence elsewhere, is a direct result of the war in Ukraine. Putin's focus
16:50has been placed too heavily on his invasion, which means that he's lost his touch elsewhere, and that
16:55isn't going to change. Right now, inside Ukraine, Russia has even bigger problems than Putin being
17:01backstabbed by Armenia. Russia's forces are running away from the Kinburn spit, and that could change
17:07everything about the occupation of Crimea. Find out why by watching our video, and if you enjoyed this
17:12video, remember to subscribe to The Military Show so you don't miss any of our analysis of the latest
17:17developments in European and global geopolitics.
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