Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin stated that Armenian politician Narek Karapetyan has never held citizenship of the Russian Federation. He made this statement to journalists in Moscow.

According to him, false information is being spread regarding several Armenian politicians.

"Narek Karapetyan, who heads the electoral list of 'Strong Armenia', has never held Russian citizenship, yet it is being claimed that he allegedly had and still has it," Galuzin said.

To recall, on the evening of May 19, Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan published a document of unknown origin and raised the question: "Is Narek Karapetyan a citizen of the Russian Federation?" Shortly after this post, Narek Karapetyan stated, "Alen Robertovich, don't do such things. I am not a citizen of Russia, I have no citizenship other than Armenian, and in my entire life I have spent less time in Russia than in England or Switzerland."

Later, the Central Electoral Commission also addressed the matter. Its representatives stated that the CEC, in accordance with the procedure established by law, had verified during the candidate registration process the documents of Narek Karapetyan — the candidate holding first place on the proportional list of the "Strong Armenia" party bloc — concerning his exclusive possession of Armenian citizenship.

Naturally, the CEC could have registered him only upon the presentation of certificates issued by the relevant subdivision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs confirming that he had held solely Armenian citizenship for the past four years and had permanently resided on its territory, which was indeed the case.

Nevertheless, on the morning of May 20, the Investigative Committee announced the opening of a criminal case in connection with Narek Karapetyan's alleged concealment of "information regarding the possession of citizenship of another state."

Source: https://news.am/en/news/1037043