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Days after French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Armenia, a video featuring him and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has been circulating in a coordinated manner across social media platforms and dubious websites. The video falsely claims to show Pashinyan touching Macron’s groin during a concert held in Gyumri on May 5.
The video is fake.
Since May 15, the footage has gained significant traction on X and later on TikTok. On X, it was initially amplified by several English-language propaganda and comedy accounts (1,2,3,4,5), including the account Truth_teller, known for sharing pro-Kremlin narratives and disinformation affiliated with the Kremlin’s propaganda ecosystem.
On TikTok, the video was shared by several French-language accounts (1, 2).
Beginning May 15, the manipulative footage also appeared on Armenian-language “mushroom” websites, including Yerevantimes{.}am and meknaban{.}am. The latter had already come under the scrutiny of FIP.am in April.
Previously, the same outlet had circulated a false claim by pro-Kremlin Turkish propagandist Okay Deprem alleging that Pashinyan intended to “ban events commemorating the victims of the Armenian Genocide.”
Using the WhoIs domain analysis platform, FIP.am found that the website operating under this domain was registered on December 15, 2025, for a one-year period.
Website’s IP address analysis shows that it is hosted on servers owned by Namecheap Inc., a widely used American hosting provider serving thousands of websites. However, this information only identifies the technical hosting location and does not reveal the website’s beneficial owners or editorial staff.
The website primarily republishes content from other sources.
The video was generated using footage from the Musical Bridge: Armenia-France live concert held in Gyumri on May 5, where Pashinyan and Macron jointly delivered a speech on stage.
The edited video featuring Pashinyan and Macron was therefore circulated in a systemic manner by English- and French-language propaganda pages on social media, as well as by “mushroom” websites.
Nane Manasyan
