Russians have sharply increased demand for apartment rentals in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, amid rumors of a new wave of mobilization, local realtors told Verstka. According to one of them, over the past two years the main clients were emigrants who were “moving from one apartment to another.” But now, “80% of those reaching out are people who either moved recently or are just planning to.” “Overall, the situation is comparable to 2022,” the publication’s source added.

As a result, over the past three months rental prices in Armenia’s capital have risen by about 30%, says another real estate specialist. “Starting from the May holidays, people have been coming, and now even more so. I have a bunch of requests for September right now. I think they want to get out before the [State Duma] elections. So in September prices will probably rise even more,” the realtor noted. At the same time, one of the publication’s sources called current housing prices “simply crazy.”

In one of the popular Telegram channels among Russians for finding housing in Yerevan, a sharp surge in demand is also visible, Verstka noted. Dozens of new posts appear there every day from people who have already arrived in Armenia or are planning to emigrate in the fall. Both families with children and single young men and women are looking for housing. “Who is arriving at the beginning of September, and who wants to rent an apartment together, write to me, I’m looking for a roommate for my husband,” one of the chat participants wrote. At the same time, the Armenia real estate channel “Meters in Drams” notes that there are no “decent options” left to rent.

According to Yandex Wordstat data, Russians began actively searching for “apartments in Yerevan” in the spring of 2026. During the week of July 13–19, the number of queries reached 5,200 and exceeded the figures for the week of February 28 to March 6, 2022 (5,000), when the full-scale war in Ukraine began. A record number of search queries was recorded during the mobilization in the fall of 2022 (almost 10,000 in the week of September 19–25). At the same time, according to Google Trends statistics, the level of Russians’ interest in apartments in Yerevan in the summer of 2026 is already comparable to the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine and the period of mobilization.

Earlier, Verstka’s sources reported that after the September State Duma elections, the authorities may impose martial law in the country and carry out mobilization. Rumors about the latter have been circulating for several months already. In particular, analysts at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote about preparations for a new mobilization. Some European officials also did not rule it out in conversations with The Washington Post. According to them, the Kremlin may take such a step if high losses at the front continue.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Vladimir Putin intends, as part of a new mobilization, to send “from 300,000 to 500,000 people” to the front. He explained this by saying that since the beginning of the year, according to his data, Russia’s Defense Ministry has recruited 221,000 contract soldiers into the army, but losses over the same period reached 225,500 people, of whom 131,000 were killed. Zelensky noted that Putin will carry out mobilization at the beginning of October, “if we do not create problems for him with logistics, weapons, gasoline, diesel fuel, and if our partners do not impose total sanctions for his aggression.”