DISINFO: The West organised a velvet revolution in Armenia to bring Nikol Pashinyan to power
SUMMARY
By organising the 'Velvet Revolution' in Armenia, the US and the West managed to gain a certain advantage over Russia in the country by bringing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his inner circle to power. The Pashinyan government very soon started betraying Armenia's military ally Russia and becoming a "geopolitical tool" of the US and the West.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative painting all manifestations of popular discontent in post-Soviet countries as colour revolutions. This unfounded claim accuses an allegedly ever-aggressive West of having an anti-Russian agenda in post-Soviet countries, attempting to encircle Russia and isolate it from other post-Soviet countries. (See also Russian Myths: no.5 Encirclement.)
There was no “colour revolution” in 2018 in Armenia, but peaceful protests of hundreds of thousands of people in response to Serzh Sargsyan's third consecutive term, and the country's prime minister and former president for a decade. Sargsyan resigned in response to overwhelming opposition pressure, including deserting soldiers, admitting that he was "wrong".
Armenia was subjected to disinformation attacks from Russia after Prime Minister Pashinyan's statement that Armenia's policy of solely relying on Russia to guarantee its security was a strategic mistake. The main narrative of Russian propaganda is that except for Russia, no one has ever helped and will not help Armenia.
Pro-Kremlin media frequently falsely portray popular protests around the world as instigated from abroad, often by the US and the West. This disinformation narrative has been applied, among others, to reports about protests in Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Belarus, Venezuela, Slovakia, Hong Kong, to portray protest movements as aggressive actors who constantly prepare new coups.
Read similar cases in our database such as Armenia's PM Nikol Pashinyan came to power with support from Soros, Colour revolutions and NGOs lead to the destruction of states, Armenia is an example, Nikol Pashinyan came to power with the help of a colour revolution.