Armenia thwarts coup attempt

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. 3 people are under arrest and 4 others are wanted by Armenian law enforcement agencies for conspiring to seize power in Armenia, the Investigative Committee said in a statement on Wednesday. 

Five of the suspects are citizens of Armenia while two others are former residents of Nagorno-Karabakh. The coup plotters recruited several unsuspecting Armenian citizens in 2024 and paid them around 220,000 rubles a month to travel to Russia and undergo three-months military training courses and then join the military upon return. 

The recruits were taken to Roston-on-Don where the masterminds of the plot administered a lie detector test to determine any ties to Armenian law enforcement bodies. 

The recruits were then taken to a military base called Arbat to undergo close quarter battle trainings. Only then they were told that the true purpose of the trainings is to return to Armenia and seize power by staging a coup. 

Some of the recruits refused to be part of the coup and left the group. The attempted coup was thwarted as a result of investigative actions of Armenian law enforcement agencies.

Three suspects are jailed. Law enforcement agencies are working to identify other accomplices of the suspects.