Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, the HUR, has claimed that Russia is bolstering its troop presence in Armenia, particularly at its base in Gyumri.
In a post on Telegram on Saturday, the HUR said that Russia had been upping its recruitment of soldiers to be posted at the base, and directly connected the increase to Baku’s heightened tensions with Moscow. The HUR further claimed that Russia had been ‘actively seeking volunteers among the representatives of the oppressed peoples of the [North] Caucasus — particularly in North Ossetia and Adygea’.
On Monday, the HUR published what it said was a leaked message from the Russian military official in charge of the Southern Military District. The message contained orders for the troop ‘replenishment’, which the official said was ‘urgent’.
The authenticity of the leaked message could not be independently verified.
Since the end of June, Azerbaijan’s relations with Russia have sharply deteriorated, fueled by a deadly police on ethnic Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg.
As both sides have escalated their hostile rhetoric, some Russian propagandists have floated the idea of an armed conflict with Azerbaijan.
The situation comes as Armenia is redefining its own relations with Russia, which have significantly worsened in recent years.
‘The deployment of Russian troops in Armenia is an element of the Kremlin’s comprehensive strategy aimed at destabilising the global security situation’, said HUR spokesperson Andrii Yusov.
‘Probably, the deterioration of relations between Azerbaijan and Russia was prepared in advance’, Yusov said without providing any further details.
On the same day, Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan appeared to push back on the claims without directly responding to the HUR’s accusations.
❗️In response to certain fabricated reports circulating in media, the Republic of #Armenia reaffirms its principled position that the territory of the Republic of Armenia cannot be used by third countries to carry out military actions against any of the neighboring states.
— Ani Badalyan, 🇦🇲 MFA Spokesperson (@ArmSpoxMFA) July 5, 2025
While Russia has reduced its troop presence in Armenia in recent years, with border guards leaving Yerevan’s airport and other border crossings, Gyumri still hosts a large contingent of troops, although the current number is unknown and likely has decreased due to soldiers being redirected to fight in Ukraine.
The base has been particularly contentious in Armenia since the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020.
In 2023, dozens of anti-Russian protesters were arrested at a demonstration outside of the base. More recently, there have been several cases in which Russian soldiers or military police stationed at the Gyumri base were accused of kidnapping Russian nationals in Armenia.
Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
