Chita court sentences Gevorg Grigoryan
A court in the Siberian city of Chita sentenced 23-year-old Gevorg Grigoryan to 9.5 years in prison. Grigoryan holds both Armenian and Russian citizenship. He made social media comments years ago that led to charges of spreading "fake" information about the military, disseminating military "fakes", "rehabilitating Nazism", calling for "terrorism" and "extremism". Mediazona reported that Grigoryan wrote "Hitler should have destroyed them all" regarding Russians and stated "after Ukraine, [Russian troops] will enter Armenia" because he felt angry about Russian inaction during Azerbaijan’s 2023 offensive into Nagorno-Karabakh. I find the 9.5-year prison term for these specific social media posts remarkably heavy. The Investigative Committee arrested him in 2025 after stating he wrote "comments containing offensive language" and "openly supported the ideology of Nazism". This legal crackdown follows the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and has resulted in hundreds of documented cases of prison sentences for social media comments that criticize the Russian military or its aggression against Ukraine.
Political fallout in the Caucasus
The failure of Russian forces to intervene during the 2023 Nagorno-Karabakh offensive remains a significant factor in regional politics. While Russia had peacekeeping operations on the ground during that final offensive, those troops did not act to prevent the outbreak of violence. Russia was not treaty-bound to support Nagorno-Karabakh during the 2023 conflict. However, under the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, which both Russia and Armenia are members of, Russia was required to come to Armenia’s aid during Azerbaijani incursions into its internationally recognised territory in 2021 and 2022, but Russia did not act. This failure to provide aid during the 2021 and 2022 incursions led Armenia to freeze its participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation. I see that this lack of support during the 2021 and 2022 periods helped turn Armenian public opinion away from Russia. The failure of Russia or the Collective Security Treaty Organisation to act during the 2021 and 2022 incursions is a major reason for the current tension between these two nations. The refusal of Russia to fulfill its obligations during those years in 2021 and 2022 explains much of the instability.
