Dmitry Samuelenko, a citizen of Ukraine, reported to Armenian law-enforcement authorities that he had been beaten by two Russian servicemen in Gyumri’s Ani district about a month ago.
Armenia’s Investigative Committee told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that it had launched an investigation into the alleged “use of physical force by a group of individuals” and ordered a forensic medical examination. Criminal proceedings have been initiated against the two Russian servicemen on charges of causing minor bodily harm, the committee added, without disclosing their names.
The motives behind the alleged assault remain unclear. No further details related to the case have been made public yet.
The case comes amid reports of another alleged incident involving Russian military personnel in Armenia.
Artur Sakunts, a prominent Armenian human rights activist, recently said that the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly, which he heads, had received a video showing what appear to be Russian soldiers beating and humiliating a young man while telling him that “Gyumri is our city, the city of Russian soldiers.” Sakunts said he had submitted a report to the Prosecutor-General’s Office, attaching the footage.
Armenian law-enforcement authorities have yet to provide details about the alleged incident. The Investigative Committee told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that it had not received a report concerning the video.
Neither the Russian military base in Gyumri nor the Russian embassy in Yerevan has commented on either case yet.
Until now, Russian servicemen accused of committing crimes in Armenia have been held at the Russian military base during investigations and trials rather than in Armenian custody.
In one of the most notorious cases, Valery Permyakov, a Russian soldier who killed seven members of an Armenian family in Gyumri in 2015, was held at the Russian military base during the trial. He was subsequently transferred to Russia to serve the life sentence imposed on him by an Armenian court.
Russia maintained its military presence in Armenia after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. The 102nd Military Base, comprising several thousand personnel, was established in Gyumri under an interstate agreement signed by Russia and Armenia in 1995. The initial 25-year agreement was extended in 2010 until 2044.
The future of the base has recently become a subject of public exchanges between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. After Putin said on September 1 that Russia was ready to withdraw the base “even tomorrow” if Armenia no longer wanted its presence, Pashinian responded that Yerevan had never raised the issue but would not object if Moscow decided to pull out its troops. He also said that the base’s presence was not of vital importance to Armenia.