Russia has replaced the commander of its troops stationed in Armenia after one of them was arrested and charged with murdering the seven members of an Armenian family in Gyumri three months ago.
The new commander of the Russian military base, Major-General Vladimir Ustinov, met with Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian and the chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff, Colonel-General Yuri Khachaturov, in Yerevan on Monday.
According to the Armenian Defense Ministry, Ohanian wished Ustinov success in his new post and “expressed confidence about a further development and strengthening of Russian-Armenian strategic cooperation.” A ministry statement did not specify whether they discussed the aftermath of the January 12 massacre of the Avetisian family in Gyumri which shocked many in and outside Armenia.
Valery Permyakov, a Russian soldier serving in Armenia’s second largest city, was arrested shortly after Seryozha Avetisian, his wife, daughter, son, daughter-in-law and 2-year-old granddaughter were found dead in their home. The seventh member of the family, a 6-month-old baby, died of his stab wounds a week later.
Russian and Armenian investigators say that Permyakov murdered the entire family after deserting his unit. The conscript, who is being kept in Russian military custody, has reportedly confessed to the brutal killings. His motives remain unclear, however.
The family massacre triggered a series of anti-government and anti-Russian protests in Gyumri. Their participants demanded that Permyakov be handed over to Armenian law-enforcement authorities and be tried by an Armenian court. Russian officials have effectively rejected these demands, saying that the conscript will stand trial at a Russian military tribunal in Armenia.
The impending sacking of the previous commander of the Russian base, Colonel Andrey Ruzinsky, was first announced by a senior Russian lawmaker visiting Armenia late last month. The Russian Defense Ministry has since made no official statements to that effect. Nor has it announced Ustinov’s appointment.
It is thus not clear just when the Russian general took over the Soviet-era base headquartered in Gyumri. His predecessor was appointed as base commander in April 2013.
Felix Tsolakian, the governor of Armenia’s northwestern Shirak province, of which Gyumri is the capital, said on March 29 that several officers of the base have been “subjected to sanctions” by the Russian military in connection with the family massacre. Tsolakian did not elaborate.
The Russian military contingent in Armenia has about 5,000 personnel, hundreds of tanks, armored vehicles and artillery systems as well as 18 MiG-29 fighter jets. It has been reinforced with more advanced military hardware and a squadron of combat helicopters in the last few years.
The Russian troop presence has been a major element of the national security strategies of successive Armenian governments. They have regarded it as a potent deterrent against Turkey’s direct military intervention in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.