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Another fabricated article targeting high-ranking Armenian officials has been published on the website of the so-called Foundation to Battle Injustice, which has close ties to the Russian private military company Wagner.
The website claims, allegedly on the basis of an “investigation,” that Khachatur Sukiasyan, an MP from Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract faction, is involved in the illegal import of narcotics from the European Union into Armenia.
The Wagner-linked website has also attributed other criminal and corrupt schemes to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Sukiasyan, citing anonymous “high-level sources” in the Armenian government, while presenting no evidence whatsoever.
The information published by this so-called anti-injustice website was republished in English on VT Foreign Policy / Veterans Today website, and the author of the article is Lucas Leiroz, a Brazilian national and a prominent representative of Russian propaganda, about whom FIP.am has covered repeatedly (1).
This publication was circulated in the Armenian Facebook domain by Nairi Hokhikyan, a Facebook user known for spreading fake and unverified news, gaining several dozen shares. Along with Hokhikyan, the information was also circulated by the Azerbaijani outlet Haqqin.az.
What did FIP.am uncover about the website?
The Fact Investigation Platform had examined this source months earlier and uncovered its links to Wagner. According to the WHOIS tool, the domain of the VT Foreign Policy website was registered in 2023.
In the website’s “About Us” section, VT describes itself as an “alternative, uncensored” platform where anyone can publish whatever they wish. It is described as “…virtual media providing fully 100% independent writers from the USA and around the world with a free and open platform to present information and their points of view without censorship.”
The main “source” of the publication is the study by the Foundation to Battle Injustice. The Foundation to Battle Injustice (FBI) (abbreviation deliberately imitates that of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation —edit.) is closely affiliated with the Wagner Foundation. As a reminder, the founder of this organization is Yevgeny Prigozhin, and it is associated with Kremlin-influenced operations.
The foundation, which positions itself as a human rights organization, is headed by Mira Terada, also known as Oksana Vovk. According to various sources, this Russian woman spent more than two years in a U.S. prison on charges of money laundering related to drug trafficking (she returned to Russia in 2021—edit.). The foundation uses influential individuals on American and foreign social media platforms to spread propaganda and disinformation in the West.
It should be recalled that months earlier this network had circulated a fabricated story about so-called biolaboratories. Fip.am also addressed this case and uncovered that, through unsupported claims and evidence-free accusations, pro-Kremlin circles targeted senior Armenian officials.
Who are targeted by this website?
In previous months, the Fact Investigation Platform has addressed other fake investigations published by this website about senior Armenian officials. One of them claimed that National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan was leading some kind of pedophile group in Armenia. Another so-called investigation alleged that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had set up concentration camps in the country to suppress opposition figures.
Beyond Armenia, this Prigozhin-linked website has other preferred targets across the post-Soviet space. It regularly publishes articles about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Moldovan President Maia Sandu, attributing to them an entire range of alleged illegal activities.
Who is the author of the article?
On VT Foreign Policy, the author of the article is listed as a young Brazilian named Lucas Leiroz. The website provides the following details: “Brazilian journalist, geopolitical analyst. Graduate of the cultural extension program of the Brazilian War College. Works as a journalist and geopolitical analyst. Researcher in the ‘Crisis, Development and International Relations’ research group at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro. At the invitation of the Russian delegation in Geneva, he was a reporteur on the use of chemical weapons by the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council and at OSCE Supplementary Meetings.”
Leiroz’s X account is even more revealing and underscores his pro-Russian stance: the background image on his profile shows Luhansk, a city Russia’s armed forces have been fighting to seize for years, while his profile photo features Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
On this journalist’s LinkedIn page, he states: “I frequently provide commentary on geopolitical issues for Sputnik Radio.” It should be noted that Radio Sputnik is part of the “Rossiya Segodnya” media group and is one of Russia’s propaganda outlets.
Thus, within the framework of yet another hybrid attack, the website affiliated with Wagner has published an unsupported, fabricated “investigation” targeting representatives of the Armenian authorities. The material was disseminated through Armenian social media accounts known for circulating disinformation, as well as through Azerbaijani resources.
Nane Manasyan
