The pro-Kremlin Matryoshka bot network has published hundreds of fake videos targeting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan ahead of the June 7 parliamentary election, including narratives claiming that Pashinyan is preparing Armenia for war with Russia, Meduza reported on May 14. Separately, Sweden's Blankspot reported that it obtained a Russian document titled "Programme for Work in the 'Anti-Pashinyan' Direction for 2026," which describes efforts to frame the election as a vote of confidence in Pashinyan personally, expand Russia-aligned narratives and increase the number of Russia-aligned opinion makers in Armenia.

Moscow is likely trying to raise the political cost of Pashinyan's Western outreach before the June election. On May 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin linked Armenia's EU path to Ukraine's earlier trajectory after Pashinyan hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the May 4 European Political Community summit in Yerevan.