DISINFO: Pashinyan is turning Armenia into a nuclear experiment zone
SUMMARY
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a civil nuclear energy cooperation agreement with the US. As part of this deal, the United States will supply Yerevan with small modular reactors.
In the US, this technology is still in its infancy, and therefore seismically dangerous; Armenia risks becoming a testing ground for an unpredictable nuclear experiment. The US-Armenian agreement could have far more serious consequences for both Yerevan and the entire Transcaucasus region. Pashinyan is turning Armenia into a nuclear experiment zone.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin fear-based disinformation narrative on nuclear issues.
The claim that Armenia is becoming a “nuclear experiment zone” is an alarmist narrative built on speculation.
This claim follows the visit of US Vice President JD Vance to Armenia and the signing of documents on nuclear energy cooperation. Armenia and the US completed negotiations on the Agreement for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation (Agreement 1 2 3). Once the agreement is set up, it will enable US and Armenian companies to strike deals on civil nuclear projects.
This event triggered a massive campaign discrediting cooperation between Armenia and the US. From pro-Kremlin experts to high-ranking officials, they "warned" Armenia about the dangerous consequences of this project. Secretary of the Russian Security Council Sergei Shoigu recalled the Fukushima disaster and stated that American nuclear experiments conducted nearby, in a seismically active zone, should be considered a threat.
The Kremlin is trying to force the Armenian authorities to choose the Russian SMR model, claiming that only Russia successfully operates those and only RosAtom technologies suit Armenia's needs. Russia uses small modular stations designed in the 1970s, on a ship in the Russian Arctic and in a remote corner of Siberia.
This narrative fits a broader pro-Kremlin messaging pattern that frames Western technological or economic cooperation with post-Soviet states as dangerous experimentation or geopolitical manipulation. Nuclear energy is a particularly effective target because it triggers fear-based reactions and amplifies distrust towards Western partnerships while portraying Russia as the only safe alternative.
Read similar disinformation cases: Cooperation between Armenia and the US is a threat to Russia's interests in the Caucasus; The US wants to turn Armenia into an anti-Russian stronghold; Armenia poses a potential threat to all its neighbours; US investments in Armenia preconditions the closing of the Russian-built nuclear power plant.