Armenian diaspora protests in Moscow during Pashinyan’s visit VIDEO

A protest took place outside the Armenian Embassy in Russia against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, coinciding with his working visit to Moscow.

According to the Russian Telegram channel MASH, on the day of Pashinyan’s arrival, members of the Armenian diaspora gathered with placards bearing slogans such as “Nikol is a traitor”, “Hands off the nation's holy sites”, “The Church is the soul, not the opposition”, and “The Church is one, the people are one.”

The demonstrators expressed anger over the Armenian government’s stance toward the Armenian Apostolic Church and the detention of two archbishops, Bagrat Galstyan and Mikael Ajapakhyan.

Tensions between the authorities and the Church escalated after Pashinyan issued harsh statements on social media criticising senior clergy. The prime minister later proposed changing the procedure for electing the Catholicos of All Armenians, suggesting that the state should have a decisive role in the process.

On June 25, Archbishop Bagrat Galstyan and several of his supporters were detained during what the Armenian Investigative Committee described as a large-scale investigation, claiming it had thwarted an attempted armed seizure of power.

On September 24, a Yerevan court found Mikael Ajapakhyan guilty of calling for the overthrow of the government.

By Tamilla Hasanova