Another fake about Armenian officials: Speaker Simonyan becomes target of new fake circulated by Prigozhin Foundation

Another piece of  fake information is circulating about high-ranking Armenian officials, this time targeting the Speaker of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan. He has been compared to Jeffrey Epstein, the American billionaire convicted of sex crimes. This was surfaced and disseminated by Fip.am, a fact-checking platform.

According to Fip.am, an article titled “Armenian Jeffrey Epstein: How Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan Built a Pedo-Empire for High-Ranking Officials” was published on the VT Foreign Policy/Veterans Today platform, which claims that "Simonyan and other Armenian leaders are involved in a child abuse network."

The same article was also republished on the website of the “Foundation to Battle Injustice” (FBI), an organization founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The fact-checking platform examined the websites and the allegations, concluding that the accusations were baseless and lacked any evidence. According to the WHOIS tool, the VT Foreign Policy domain was registered only in 2023. The website describes itself as a “censorship-free alternative” where anyone can publish without editorial control.

The main “source” cited in the article is the “Foundation to Battle Injustice,” a structure closely linked to the Wagner Group and Prigozhin. The foundation is led by Mira Terada (Oksana Vovk), a Russian citizen who previously served over two years in a U.S. prison on money laundering charges related to drug trafficking. The organization, presenting itself as a “human rights safeguarding” group uses influential celebrities on American and foreign social media platforms to spread propaganda and disinformation in the West,” the “fact-checking platform” noted.

The article falsely claims that a months-long investigation uncovered a vast network of high-ranking Armenian pedophiles. However, no evidence, victim testimonies, or factual data were provided, and the individuals who  allegedly talked to the author of the article remained anonymous.

The publication also featured a photo allegedly depicting Alen Simonyan with underage girls. Fip.am’s analysis determined that the man in the photo does not resemble Simonyan. Similar pictures are widely available on stock platforms such as Alamy, Depositphotos, and Dreamstime. Tests showed a 2.6% probability that the image was generated by artificial intelligence. The photo, however, has not been fully identified as a stock image, leaving open the possibility that it is either a modified stock photo or a photomontage created from several images.

The article on VT Foreign Policy listed its author as a young Brazilian named Lucas Leiroz, who openly demonstrates pro-Russian views. His social media profile background features Lugansk, while his profile photo is of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. On his LinkedIn page, he states: “I often comment on geopolitical issues for Sputnik Radio,” which is part of the Russian state-run Rossiya Segodnya media group.

“Thus, the article accusing the Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia and other officials of child abuse is devoid of facts. The claims, alleged cases, and anonymous statements cited in it are dubious and unfounded. Fip.am’s research shows that this is yet another information attack originating from Russian circles,” the fact-checking platform concluded.