Pro-Kremlin Matryoshka bot network publishes AI-generated images mocking Armenia’s PM Nikol Pashinyan
The pro-Kremlin Matryoshka disinformation network has launched a new campaign against Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan ahead of the country’s June 2026 parliamentary elections, according to insights from the Bot Blocker Project (antibot4navalny) shared with The Insider.
According to the analysts, Matryoshka began its pre-election activities in Armenia with a record lead time of eight months. Last year in the U.S., the bots started spreading disinformation on Jul. 15, three and a half months before Election Day (Nov. 4). Ahead of Moldova’s parliamentary elections, the bots went live on Apr. 13 — five and a half months before the Sept. 28 vote.
The bots are spreading videos on X and BlueSky disguised as content from Western media outlets. These clips criticize Pashinyan for “destroying Armenia’s cultural code” and “imposing non-traditional values of tolerance.” They also accuse his administration of threatening opposition journalists and bloggers, as well as promoting an “unrealistic and dangerous” plan to create a “Fourth Republic.” The term refers to a declaration proposed by Pashinyan at the congress of his Civil Contract party and adopted by a vote of the participants. The document envisions extending the current government’s mandate for another five years after the 2026 parliamentary elections, adopting a new constitution through a referendum, formally renouncing Armenia’s territorial claims to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), and pursuing a course toward joining the European Union.
The bots have also shared AI-generated images of Pashinyan being humiliated by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (including one in which Erdoğan forces Pashinyan to kiss his knee), and U.S. President Donald Trump. In one of the fake photos, Pashinyan is shown cleaning up trash in front of the White House.
As The Insider previously reported, Matryoshka first targeted Pashinyan this past June, likely in connection with his planned visit to Ankara. Pashinyan was accused of endorsing “the highest level of corruption in the Middle East” and of silencing discussion of the Armenian Genocide. Some bots claimed he was allegedly taking “strong tranquilizers.” In October, the independent outlet Agentstvo reported that Matryoshka bots had begun spreading videos on social media featuring the likenesses of former Auschwitz concentration camp prisoners. In these clips, Pashinyan is accused of “building gas chambers for Armenia’s symbols and testing them on Mount Ararat” — a reference to the Armenian government’s decision to remov
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh (known in Armenia as Artsakh) began in the late 1980s. Despite its predominantly Armenian population, in Soviet times Nagorno-Karabakh was incorporated into the Azerbaijani SSR as an autonomous region. Following the First Karabakh War of 1992–1994, Nagorno-Karabakh became a de facto independent but unrecognized republic. In 2020, Azerbaijan, with Turkey’s support, seized part of Nagorno-Karabakh by military force, and in 2023 Baku’s forces captured the entire territory. As a result, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic ceased to exist, and nearly all of its Armenian population fled to Armenia. Although Russian peacekeeping forces were deployed in the region under the terms of the 2020 ceasefire agreement, Russia did not intervene to prevent Azerbaijan’s final takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023. As a result, relations between Russia and Armenia have deteriorated sharply.
