- 2 August, 2024
- Foreign Policy, Military Cooperation
The border guard troops of the Russian Federation have left Zvartnots Airport since August 1 and will no longer carry out service there. On July 31, a solemn farewell ceremony took place at the airport, with the Armenian border guards thanking their Russian counterparts for 32 years of service and bidding farewell to them.
Hereinafter the border control at the airport will be carried out solely by the Armenian border guard troops.
Rumors about the departure of the Russian border guards were confirmed by the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan at the press conference held on April 20 of this year, informing that the border guard troops of the Republic of Armenia sent a letter to the border guard troops of the Russian Federation, thanking them for their service at the Zvartnots International Airport since the independence of Armenia. “In the letter, we also informed that since the public institutions are developing in our country, with the support of our Russian colleagues, the RA border guards serving in “Zvartnots” have already gained enough experience and skills to carry out the border control without the support of the Russian side. This is what the letter is about,” Pashinyan said.
Russian border guards in Armenia
The protection of the RA state border is carried out by 3 different agencies: the Border Guard Troops of the RA National Security Service (mainly on the border with Georgia), the Border Department of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSS/ФСБ) in the Republic of Armenia, and the RA Ministry of Defense (the latter controls most of the border with Azerbaijan).
Russian border guards have been in Armenia for about 32 years, according to the Treaty between the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation on the Status and Operating Conditions of the Border Troops of the Russian Federation on the Territory of the Republic of Armenia of September 30, 1992. According to this treaty, the border guards of the Border Department of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSS) in the Republic of Armenia carry out the protection of the RA state border with the Republic of Turkey and the Islamic Republic of Iran. In addition, the Border Department of the Russian Fedral Security Service carries out border protection at the “Agarak” checkpoint in Meghri. Along with the Armenian border guards, there was also Russian presence at the Zvartnots Airport border checkpoint.
In February 1992, the Border Guard Troops of the Republic of Armenia were created in Armenia under the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia. In 1993, by the decree of the President of the Republic of Armenia, the Department of Border Guard Troops of the Ministry of Defense was transferred under the authority of the State Department of National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia and was later renamed the Border Guard Troops of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia.
On April 26, 1994, the highest legislative body of the Republic of Armenia, the Supreme Council, for the first time adopted the Law on the State Border of the Republic of Armenia”, then on November 20, 2001, the Law of the Republic of Armenia on Border Guard Troops was adopted. April 26 is celebrated as Border Guard Day in the Republic of Armenia.
And despite the existence and efficient activity of the Armenian border guard troops, the Russian border guards continue to serve in Armenia.
The illegal actions of Russian border guards
The Union of Informed Citizens (UIC) has repeatedly raised the issue of the illegal activities of Russian border guards and the violation of the treaty between Armenia and Russia.
For instance, at Zvartnots International Airport, the border guards of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSA/ФСБ) often carried out identity checks of departing and arriving passengers instead of the border guards of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia.
Back in 2015, the Union of Informed Citizens considered the verification of people’s personal data by foreigners problematic, initiating a relevant process. In particular, the organization sent an inquiry to the National Security Service, in response to which the latter noted that the border guards of the Russian Federal Security Service carry out service under the Treaty between the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation on the Status and Operating Conditions of the Border Troops of the Russian Federation on the Territory of the Republic of Armenia of September 30, 1992.
Meanwhile, the Union of Informed Citizens checked and found that there is no such provision that would give the Russian Federation border guards the right to perform any service at any airport in Armenia. Instead, Article 3 of the treaty clearly stipulates that “the border guard troops of the Russian Federation shall not be involved in the performance of other tasks not related to the protection of the border with Turkey and Iran (with the exception of elimination of consequences of natural disasters, accidents and other disasters).”
Moreover, according to Article 6 of the same treaty, “the border guard troops of the Russian Federation shall manage the flow of passengers, vehicles, cargo, goods, etc. in accordance with the legislation which sets regulations for crossing the border through the checkpoints on the border of the Republic of Armenia with Turkey and Iran.”
However, the activity of the Russian border guards at the Zvartnots International Airport is not the only instance of violation of interstate agreements and the Armenian legislation. For example, in 1999, two Russian border guards went to the streets of Gyumri and opened fire at random passers-by, killing two Armenian citizens.
The most terrifying incident happened on January 12, 2015, when Valery Permyakov, a conscript soldier of the Russian 102nd Military Base in Gyumri, entered the house of the Avetisyans from Gyumri with a weapon and a bayonet, and killed 5 members of the family on the spot with shots from his gun, then kllled the helpless children with particular cruelty. The two-year-old girl died on the spot, and the six-month-old Seryozha died a week later. The Russian border guards abducted Permyakov while the latter was trying to cross the border with Turkey near the village of Bayandur in Shirak Province, while according to the same treaty, they were supposed to hand him over to the Armenian side after arresting him.
In 2013, the Russian border guards in Syunik did not like the fact that Armenian National Assembly deputy Zaruhi Postanjyan filmed them, breaking the MP’s camera. The Russian border guards were never held accountable for these actions.
In 2015, the Russian border guards entered the house of Yezidi refugees who had fled to Armenia as a result of the war in Iraq and had settled legally in the village of Araks in the Armavir Province and collected their passports.
In 2016, photos of scanned passports of some citizens at the border checkpoints of Armenia appeared in the hands of pro-Russian propaganda groups. Later, the journalistic investigation revealed that it was the Russian border guards who had leaked the personal data of citizens of the Republic of Armenia.
In January 2017, the Russian border guards did not allow the residents of Tlik village in Aragatsotn Province to approach and repair the pumping station near the Araks River, as a result of which the village was left without water for 20 days.
After the 44-day war in 2020, the number of Russians increased in the provinces of Vayots Dzor, Tavush, Syunik, Gegharkunik, and Ararat, but their number is gradually decreasing since the beginning of this year. The Russians will continue the service only on the borders between Armenia and Turkey, and Armenia and Iran.
In addition to the aforementioned illegal actions and violations, the Union of Informed Citizens also revealed that a number of actions provided for by the treaty were never implemented. The most prominent of them, perhaps, is the action provided by Article 4, Clause 4 of the treaty, according to which the Republic of Armenia, along with the establishment of its own border guard agencies, shall take control of protection of its western and southern borders.
However, even 32 years after signing the aforementioned treaty, no section of the border with Iran and Turkey is protected by RA border guards.
Russians had illegal access to the personal data of RA citizens
While carrying out border control at the “Meghri” and “Zvartnots” checkpoints of the RA state border, the servicemen of the Border Department of the Russian Federal Security Service stationed in Armenia had illegal access to the RA Border Management Information System.
The Border Electronic Management Information System contains personal data of RA citizens and other persons crossing the state border of the Republic of Armenia.
According to the RA Law on Protection of Personal Data, personal data under the management of state bodies can be transferred to foreign state bodies only within the framework of ratified international agreements.
Meanwhile, the Treaty between the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation on the Status and Operating Conditions of the Border Troops of the Russian Federation on the Territory of the Republic of Armenia of September 30, 1992 is not a ratified international agreement (despite the fact that it was subject to ratification both according to the current legal regulations and those valid in 1992). Accordingly, the Russian border guard troops should not have had access to the BMIS system. Taking advantage of their access to the BMIS system, the Russian Federal Securty Service abducted a person on the territory of the Republic of Armenia, which also means that no one in the country was safe from the illegal actions of the Russian law enforcement officers.
Hasmik Hambardzumyan
Union of Informed Citizens
