Two Russian Base Servicemen Detained in Gyumri Over Alleged Beating of Ukrainian Citizen

In the Armenian city of Gyumri, the Investigative Committee of Armenia has detained two servicemen from the 102nd Russian military base. According to the Armenian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the detention followed a complaint by Ukrainian citizen Dmytro Samuelenko, who stated that about a month ago two Russian soldiers beat him up within the territory of Gyumri. The motives for the attack, according to available reports, have not been established. Both servicemen have been placed in pre-trial detention.

Charge: Group Assault

The Investigative Committee of Armenia has opened a criminal case. The Russian servicemen are accused of a group assault causing minor bodily harm. As RFE/RL notes, the qualification of “minor harm” under Armenian criminal law implies that the victim's injuries did not reach the threshold of grave or medium-severity harm, but the very fact of a group attack remains the basis for criminal prosecution. Details regarding Samuelenko's health condition and the specific injuries recorded by medical professionals were not disclosed by law enforcement agencies at the time of publication.

Not the First Incident: Video of Young Man's Humiliation

The case involving Samuelenko is not an isolated one. In early November 2026, the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly, headed by human rights defender Artur Sakunts, received a video showing servicemen from the Russian base in Gyumri beating and humiliating a young man. According to RFE/RL, the victim in this episode is a Russian citizen. In the recording, one of the soldiers can be heard saying: “Gyumri is our city.” Sakunts handed over the materials to the General Prosecutor's Office of Armenia, which confirmed it was conducting an investigation. Whether a separate criminal case has been opened over this episode and whether specific servicemen have been detained was not reported at the time of publication.

Status of the 102nd Base and Legal Context

Gyumri hosts the main garrison of the 102nd Russian military base, the only Russian Armed Forces base deployed in Armenia. A second, smaller garrison is located in Yerevan. The status of the base is determined by bilateral agreements between Armenia and Russia, which establish the jurisdiction of Armenian law enforcement agencies within the country's territory, including cases involving Russian servicemen. This is precisely why the investigation in both incidents is being conducted by the Armenian Investigative Committee rather than Russian military investigative bodies.

Specialists and human rights organizations have previously recorded a series of episodes related to the 102nd base. Following the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian citizens expressing anti-war views have repeatedly been detained and abducted in Armenia. According to available data, they were taken to the base in Gyumri and subsequently handed over to Russian law enforcement structures. These cases are not directly linked to the current criminal proceedings, but they form a broader context of tension surrounding the presence of Russian military infrastructure on Armenian territory and the issue of subjecting Russian servicemen to local law.

As of publication on November 9, 2026, both detained servicemen remain in custody. The Investigative Committee of Armenia has not announced a timeframe for completing the investigation into the Samuelenko case. The General Prosecutor's Office continues its review of the second episode involving the video provided by human rights activists.