A number of Western countries have literally declared a hunt for Russian citizens around the world, and Armenia is no exception. Since the beginning of 2026, five Russian citizens have been arrested in the country on the basis of relevant requests from abroad. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesperson Maria Zakharova announced this during a press briefing on Wednesday.

She noted that the charges against those arrested "often have no relation to reality at all." "Moreover, this is noticeable even to an ordinary citizen who can verify this information. Naturally, such a state of affairs seriously concerns us. Our diplomats regularly visit compatriots in relevant institutions.

There is information that the health condition of some of them has deteriorated,” Zakharova added. “More than a year ago, we offered our Armenian partners a legal option for resolving this issue—the signing of a relevant bilateral agreement.

The draft was submitted to Yerevan for consideration, taking into account the wishes of the Armenian side. However, we have not received any substantive response to date,” Zakharova noted. She stressed that Russian citizens “should not become hostages of the political situation.”

The Russian MFA spokesperson added that the Russian side will continue to keep the situation under special oversight and make every effort to have them released.