June 20, 2025, Yerevan
In the past several days, another round of indecent and offensive statements and descriptions directed at the authorities, state, and people of Armenia—made on June 18, 2025 by the author and host of the program “Evening with Vladimir Solovyov” on Russia-1 TV channel—has caused a wide public outcry in Armenian media and on social networks. As a reminder, Solovyov, outraged by the arrest in Yerevan of Samvel Karapetyan, an Armenian businessman residing in Russia, called the Armenian authorities, and particularly the Prime Minister, a “scoundrel,” a “sellout,” “Turkol” (Turkophile) and went on to question whether “the people of Armenia have any involvement in issues related to the fate of the country, or whether Armenia will soon suffer the fate of Artsakh…”
Considering the state status of the aforementioned TV company and Vladimir Solovyov’s role as one of the Kremlin’s most influential propagandists, it can be inferred that his remarks reflected the dominant position within Russian government institutions, with this stance remaining unchallenged in the following days. Moreover, on that occasion, similar views were also voiced by deputies from the ruling United Russia (Edinaya Rossia) party and experts disseminating Kremlin sentiments.
This once again clearly demonstrates that circles and media resources close to the Russian authorities are making efforts to actively interfere in Armenia’s socio-political—and even legal—processes, trying to influence the internal situation in our country ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections.
In recent years, there have been numerous documented cases in which Russian media—including the Russian state TV channel broadcasting in the RA territory—in violation of elementary legislative and professional requirements, have spread disinformation, fake news, hate-filled and discriminatory content, as well as evident insults directed at Armenia. The aforementioned Solovyov, along with the “experts” he invites on his show, has been and remains one of the chief promoters of that reprehensible campaign. It is precisely for this reason that his programs have been blocked on the RA public multiplex—a decision that, even despite Armenian-Russian interdepartmental negotiations, has not been reconsidered. Similar problems have also been observed with other Russian media operating in Armenia.
Given that the measures implemented have failed to serve as a sufficient incentive for decision-makers in Russia, we, the undersigned journalistic organizations, demand that the Armenian Government:
- annul the Agreement “On Cooperation in the Field of Mass Telecommunications between the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the Government of the Russian Federation”—for which numerous justifications have been gathered—and by doing so, cease the broadcasting of Russian TV channels via the RA public multiplex;
- take other necessary measures and conduct appropriate discussions with the expert community to ensure the protection of Armenia’s information environment from foreign hybrid influence.
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
YEREVAN PRESS CLUB
MEDIA INITIATIVES CENTER
MEDIA DIVERSITY INSTITUTE-ARMENIA
JOURNALISTS’ CLUB “ASPAREZ”
“JOURNALISTS FOR THE FUTURE” NGO
“JOURNALISTS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS” NGO
GORIS PRESS CLUB
