Woman Who Confronted Pashinyan Says, “I Thank God That He Gave Me the Opportunity to Look Directly Into His Eyes and Tell Him That He Stole My Homeland”

Nikol Pashinyan became involved in a heated and emotional confrontation with a woman who accused Pashinyan of “stealing her homeland [Artsakh]” during a campaign event held today in Yerevan as Armenia’s parliamentary election campaign continues ahead of the June 7 vote.

According to footage from the scene, a woman approached Pashinyan and accused him of destroying the country, the younger generation, and Armenian families following the 2020 war and subsequent political developments in Armenia.

The woman told the prime minister: “You stole my homeland [Artsakh], you destroyed an entire young generation, you stole my brother, my happiness, you tried to make us kneel, but we did not kneel…”

Pashinyan attempted to respond by defending his government’s record and policies, saying: “We created health insurance, we created a state…” However, the woman repeatedly interrupted him and again said: “You tried to make us kneel…”

As tensions rose, several of Pashinyan’s supporters standing nearby began loudly chanting “Nikol Varchapet” in an apparent attempt to drown out the woman’s criticism and support the prime minister during the argument.

The atmosphere became increasingly tense as both sides continued shouting over one another.

At one point during the confrontation, as the woman attempted to walk away from the argument, Pashinyan appeared to grab or pull her hand while continuing to speak to her. The woman immediately reacted and told the prime minister not to touch her.

The exchange continued to escalate, with Pashinyan then angrily lashing out at his political opponents and individuals he accused of spreading videos online while hiding their identities behind masks.

“If you are Rob, I will make Rob kneel, Rob is going to prison, I will destroy Rob, I will make Kaluga [Samvel Karapetyan] kneel too, destroy him, Serzh too, Gago too. It was Rob who shot the citizens of Armenia, not me,” the prime minister said.

The remarks appeared to reference several opposition-linked political figures, including former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, former President Serzh Sargsyan, and businessman Samvel Karapetyan and Gagik Tsarukyan.

The woman continued accusing Pashinyan of destroying the country. In response, the prime minister blamed previous authorities and corruption connected to Nagorno-Karabakh.

“You are the ones who destroyed it, you looted through Karabakh. And I say this to those masked people speaking with a Karabakh accent and spreading videos — you are runaway cowards, take off your masks, you scoundrels, you fugitives. They spread videos with Karabakh accents and masks, and we say you are cowards and deserters who fled the battlefield. Take off your masks, Rob’s boys, Serzh’s boys, Gago’s boys, Kalugatsi’s… I will force all of you to kneel, one by one I will shove those masks where they belong,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said angrily.

Later, during an exchange with journalists from Azatutyun, Pashinyan addressed the incident again and showed reporters a video he said had triggered his reaction.

According to the prime minister, he believes his political opponents were behind the video and online campaign targeting him and his government.

“I am threatening those masked people with concrete forceful actions, with severe forceful actions. I am going to destroy them. I am also threatening my political opponents through Armenian legislation and justice for saying ‘5,000 victims.’ I am specifically threatening Robik, Kalugatsi, Serzh, Gago — I am threatening all of you,” the prime minister said.

When asked whether he had evidence linking the individuals in the videos to opposition forces, Pashinyan replied: “Yes, the evidence is that it matches their rhetoric. And to those people speaking with masks on, I say: take off your masks. And when they do, you will see these are the people who fled the battlefield in the first hours of the war. These are the fugitives I was talking about in the metro. I am going to find every one of them, remove their masks, and I already said what I am going to do.”

The woman was later identified as the sister of missing senior Armenian military officer Hrant Papikyan, who disappeared during the 2020 44-day war.

Speaking to journalists after the confrontation, she said her outburst was driven not only by the disappearance of her brother, but also by what she described as the loss of Artsakh and Armenia’s national dignity.

“Yes, my brother is Hrant Papikyan, the high-ranking officer missing from the 44-day war, but believe me, the main reason for my outburst is the loss of the homeland. If I had lost my brother in a victorious country, or even in a country that had lost with dignity, I would have carried this pain much more easily. But we lost the homeland dishonorably, and I cannot forgive that,” she said.

The woman stated that she could not remain silent after learning that Pashinyan was campaigning near her residential building.

“I could not tolerate that the Turk would come in front of my building and desecrate my area, and I would stay silent. My home, my building is my sanctuary. I could not know he had come and not come downstairs,” she said.

According to her account, she approached the prime minister specifically to look him in the eyes and personally tell him how she felt.

“I said what you have heard many times before, but I thank God that He gave me the opportunity to look directly into his eyes and tell him that he stole my homeland,” she said.

The woman also claimed that the prime minister quickly became emotional during the confrontation and attempted to touch her.

“He very quickly fell into hysteria. I shouted several times: ‘Keep your hands off me,’” she said.

When asked whether she feared possible consequences after publicly confronting the prime minister, the woman said she was prepared for that possibility.

“If they have to come because of this, let them come. I could not stay silent. For eight years I have fought in my own way and honestly done my work for my people. Whenever there was an opportunity to raise my voice in protest, I was always present,” she said.

She further accused Pashinyan of leading Armenia toward destruction.

“He is leading the country toward destruction, my nation toward annihilation, and my national sacred values toward humiliation,” she said.

The confrontation quickly spread across Armenian social media platforms, where clips from the exchange circulated widely and sparked debate among supporters and critics of the prime minister.

The incident comes during an increasingly tense election campaign period in Armenia, where political divisions remain deep over the aftermath of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, the loss of Artsakh, border security concerns, and the country’s broader political future.

Campaigning for Armenia’s parliamentary elections officially began this month and will continue until June 5, before the country enters the legally mandated day of silence ahead of voting on June 7.

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