ArmInfo. A group of citizens holds a protest in front of the Russian Embassy in Armenia due to an act of vandalism took place a few days earlier in the territory of the Armenian church in Russian Armavir.
Protesters express dissatisfaction with the fact that law enforcement officers do not allow them to approach the gates of the Russian Embassy, demanding that they keep their distance. Protesters in this regard accused the police of trying to obstruct their right to freedom of assembly. The protesters intend to convey a letter of protest to representatives of the Russian embassy. To note the action is not numerous, about two dozen people. It is known that one of the initiators of the protest is the "Sasna Tsrer" party.
As ArmInfo reported earlier, yesterday an act of vandalism was recorded on the territory of the Armenian church in Russian Armavir, in particular, member of the Armavir City Council Alexey Vinogradov entered the church territory and painted a memorial plate to the National Hero of Armenia Garegin Nzhdeh with black paint. As Vinogradov explained to the Russian media, he resorted to this step, since on November 11, a two-week period had passed, during which the regional and local authorities, as well as representatives of the local branch of the "Union of Armenians of Russia" promised to dismantle the plaque to Nzhdeh. Earlier, Vinogradov has repeatedly stated that in case of failure to fulfill promises to dismantle the board, he will resolve this issue himself. To recall, earlier Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots Leonid Kalashnikov promised to make efforts to dismantle the memorial plaque to Garegin Nzhdeh in Russian Armavir. He stated this in an interview with one of the Azerbaijani media. "I intend to deal with this issue personally. I will personally send requests and I will seek dismantling.", Kalashnikov noted. At the same time, representatives of the Azerbaijani community of Russia demand that the Armavir Municipality dismantles the memorial tablet in honor of Garegin Ter-Harutyunyan (Nzhdeh), installed in 2012 in the territory of the Armenian Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the initiative of the Armavir branch of the Union of Armenians of Russia. The small plate installed in Armavir in honor of Nzhdeh symbolizes the Armenian national spirit. In addition to Nzhdeh, the sculptural structure depicts Andranik Ozanyan (1865-1927) - an associate of Nzhdeh, the national hero of Armenia, the general of the Russian Empire, the leader of the Armenian liberation movement in the Ottoman Empire and in Transcaucasia during the Civil War in Russia. This issue escalated after a verbal skirmish that occured between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Ashgabat because of Nzhdeh.