Citizen Provided Military Information to Foreign Services for $500 Per Month

Given the public interest in the criminal proceedings initiated for state treason and espionage in the Investigative Department of the National Security Service of the Republic, it is reported that a final judicial act has been drafted in one of the investigations initiated for state treason, and the criminal case concerning the detained individual has been submitted to the court with an accusatory conclusion.

Through a comprehensive investigation in the Investigative Department, it has been established that a citizen of the Republic of Armenia, recruited by representatives of foreign special services, conveyed various military-related information that he became aware of during his service. Subsequently, he signed a commitment regarding his cooperation with the special services, was given a relevant code name, and was promised a remuneration of $500 for each month of cooperation.

Afterward, during the 44-day war, the mentioned individual participated in combat operations across different defense sectors while being part of a military unit. Intending to act against the security and territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia, possessing a higher military education in missile technology, and having skills in firing from the reactive system, he commandered one of the reactive systems assigned to his unit. Under the conditions of having verified precise coordinates provided by the relevant service of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic, he deliberately fired at non-target areas and did not hit the enemy's firing positions. Consequently, it became impossible to fulfill the combat task set before him.

Moreover, to avoid detection by bodies of the Republic of Armenia conducting counterintelligence operations, the foreign special service agents provided the individual with a mobile phone programmed with an application to disguise their communication, instructing him not to use it for communication purposes, keeping it constantly in 'airplane' mode, and to use internet connection opportunities located in public places for transmission of information.

As a result, the individual subject to criminal prosecution gathered and provided information to representatives of foreign special services via covert internet connection regarding military equipment acquired by his homeland, losses of military equipment during the war, as well as a list containing details about the personnel strength, occupied positions, and armaments of the soldiers from his unit. Additionally, he promised to gather and deliver to them the combat readiness plan, maps, and operational orders marked with classified seals of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia for a remuneration of $4,000 but was unable to finalize the criminal activity because he was exposed by the agents of the Republic's National Security Service.

During the criminal proceedings, sufficient evidence was also gathered indicating that the same individual, during the war, while operating a military equipment vehicle assigned to the Ministry of Defense of the Republic, intentionally aimed to damage that vehicle and another military transport vehicle of the same unit alongside the reactive missiles it carried. Observing the aforementioned vehicle parked behind the transport vehicle he was driving, he suddenly reversed and crashed into the parked vehicle, damaging it and the reactive missiles loaded on it, resulting in the aforementioned military equipment being unused for solving combat tasks during the 44-day war.

Thus, the individual involved as an accused in the case provided the enemy with a genuine opportunity to accurately calculate the forces and means during potential combat operations, determine the quantity of forces and means involved in accomplishing tasks in various sections, their placements, and additionally predetermined the nature of the combat tasks assigned to the military units with special statuses of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, as well as the possible scales of the tasks to be carried out by them, thereby hindering the proper implementation of tasks set before military units and engaging in state treason against the territorial integrity and external security of the Republic of Armenia.

The National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia informs that only in 2022, criminal proceedings for state treason were initiated, leading to a total of 8 cases being submitted to the court with an accusatory conclusion concerning 15 individuals by investigators of the NSS investigative department. Investigations for other initiated proceedings are ongoing, and considering the public's broad interest in these, the NSS will periodically provide information regarding their progress and results.