Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

A serviceman of the Russian 102nd military base located in Armenia attacked visitors to one of the Relocant bars in Yerevan, “That’s So” learned. According to the owner of the establishment, as a result, two guests of the establishment were injured and had to receive stitches. This is not the first time that the Russian military in Armenia has attacked local residents.

The owner of the Yerevan bar, Alexey K., told “That’s So” that about two weeks ago a drunken Russian contract soldier came to his establishment. At some point, one of the visitors turned to the staff of the establishment - she complained that the military man was persistently pestering her. First, one of the visitors made a remark to the contractor, then Alexey himself. However, this had no effect: the harassment still did not stop.

The owner of the establishment, together with another visitor, stood up for the girl and forbade the Russian military man to touch her.

“Then he jumps up from his seat, pushes Peter (the second visitor, his name has been changed. - Ed. ) to the wall, grabs a large beer mug from the table and breaks it on his head. After that, we immediately tied him up and called the police,” Alexey tells “That’s So.”

The beer mug smashed on his head and shattered into pieces; Peter received serious injuries to his head and arm. The entire floor of the bar was covered in blood, and blood was oozing from the victim's deep wounds.

In total, doctors put more than 20 stitches on Peter: 12 on his head and 9 on his arm. The scars that remain on the head will have to be removed by the victim using expensive procedures in a cosmetology clinic.

In addition to Peter himself, the girl who was molested by the military man was also injured. She was cut by shrapnel on her arm, and the doctors also stitched her up.

The police, according to the bar owner, arrived at the scene within seven minutes. The Russian contract soldier was handcuffed and taken to the department; soon a criminal case was opened against him under the article of causing minor bodily harm.

Now the attacker is under recognizance not to leave the place. Alexey says that it is just as difficult to prove the fact of harassment in Armenia as in Russia, so for now the girl who was harassed by the military man decided not to report it to the police.

The bar estimated the damage at approximately 500 euros. According to Alexey, the attacker broke his expensive glasses, damaged the equipment for the projector, and because of the blood that flooded the premises, the establishment had to make emergency repairs. The bar owner is worried that it will never be possible to collect the money - there is no news from the investigation yet.

“We created this place as a point of communication for those who left Russia. We often hold cultural events. We are used to being proud of our reputation as a quiet, peaceful place, and this is the first time in the history of the bar that such a bloody fuck-up has happened. I still take sedatives. Such a nightmare greatly undermines our reputation,” complains the bar owner.

What is known about the attacker

As “That's So” was able to establish, the military man who started the brawl in the bar for relocatnts turned out to be Igor Ganyushkin. According to Alexey, before starting the fight, the contract soldier managed to tell that he serves as a signalman at the Erebuni airbase, which is part of the 102nd Russian military base.

Alexey’s colleagues from other Yerevan institutions told him that they knew Ganyushkin - this was not the first conflict with his participation. According to them, a Russian military officer recently provoked a conflict in another Armenian bar. It was a purely local establishment - and there eyewitnesses decided not to call the police, but “simply fucked him up with the whole bar” (“That’s So” could not confirm or refute this information).

“That’s So” tried to contact Ganyushkin, but he did not answer the editor’s calls or messages. As follows from leaked databases, he was born in the Orenburg region in 1996, and after that he lived in St. Petersburg. The military man’s posts on his page on one of the social networks indicate that he has been serving in Armenia since at least 2017.