Armenia’s ‘Vardanik’ Mayor Arrested: A Political Earthquake in Gyumri

In a dramatic turn of events that has sent shockwaves through Armenia’s political landscape, Vardan Ghukasyan, the recently elected mayor of Gyumri, the country’s second-largest city, has been arrested on corruption charges. His detention for two months comes just half a year after he ascended to office, becoming a rallying symbol for the opposition against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government. Ghukasyan, however, is no stranger to controversy, having been widely known in local media as ‘Vardanik,’ an alleged criminal authority who had wielded significant influence over Gyumri since the 1990s.

Along with Mayor Ghukasyan, seven other individuals, including Gyumri’s chief architect, were taken into custody. Investigators allege that the group became aware of an illegal 1,500 square meter construction slated for demolition. For a bribe totaling 4 million drams (approximately 846,000 Russian rubles), Ghukasyan and his associates purportedly agreed to falsify documents, retroactively legalizing the structure as if it had been demolished and rebuilt. To prevent exposure of their scheme, they allegedly placed local opposition members – ironically, supporters of Prime Minister Pashinyan – under surveillance, using blackmail to silence any dissent.

Ghukasyan’s ties to Gyumri run deep. He previously governed the city from 1999 to 2012, during which time he reportedly established a reputation as a formidable ‘criminal authority,’ capable of achieving his objectives through any means necessary. Unconfirmed public rumors linked his circle to grave crimes, including murder, rape, and extortion. His notorious nickname, ‘Vardanik,’ was one he reportedly embraced. Following Armenia’s 2018 Velvet Revolution, when PM Pashinyan vowed to eradicate criminal influence from politics, Ghukasyan famously retorted that ‘thieves in law’ were the wisest people in the world and that under his leadership, Gyumri had been Armenia’s ‘least criminal’ city.

Despite this contentious past, Ghukasyan made a political comeback in April 2025, securing the mayoral seat once more. Leading the Communist Party’s list, his faction garnered 20% of the vote in municipal elections, with a 42.66% turnout. While Pashinyan’s ‘Civil Contract’ party secured a larger share at 36.8%, the mayor is elected by local parliament members, where the opposition successfully coalesced around Ghukasyan. This electoral victory was hailed by anti-government forces as their first decisive triumph in a long time.

The animosity between Gyumri’s mayor and Armenia’s Prime Minister was palpable and openly displayed. On October 1, Pashinyan publicly declared that the nation’s second-largest city, home to approximately 110,000 people, was under the sway of a ‘thief’ who undermined the republic’s sovereignty. He stressed that such individuals ‘must be cast out of political and public life.’

Ghukasyan, for his part, remained unyielding, openly blaming Pashinyan for Armenia’s defeat in the second Karabakh war. He argued that closer ties with Moscow would have prevented the outcome, advocating for Yerevan’s entry into the Russia-Belarus Union State – a move Pashinyan vehemently opposes, viewing it as a surrender of Armenian sovereignty.

The climax unfolded on the morning of April 20 when Ghukasyan, learning that law enforcement was en route, barricaded himself inside the city hall. He issued a defiant call to his supporters: ‘Proud and just residents of Gyumri! The time has come to defend our city and our dignity… We, the people of Gyumri, are obligated to uphold the right to elect and protect our mayor. Unite, speak out, do not be silent. Gyumri is strong through its people.’

In response to his appeal, a crowd of supporters, including municipal workers, employees from state-funded organizations, and a contingent of ‘athletic young men’ reportedly prepared to defend their leader ‘by all available means,’ gathered outside the city hall.

However, their numbers proved insufficient against the overwhelming force dispatched by the authorities. Law enforcement did not arrive as a single police unit but as an ‘entire army’ of security personnel, who swiftly secured the entire city center of Gyumri within minutes. The mayor’s supporters were reportedly dwarfed by the sheer number of special forces in their distinctive crimson berets. Ultimately, officers breached the city hall doors, apprehended the suspect, and transported him to the Anti-Corruption Court in Yerevan.

The crackdown extended beyond the mayor. The Investigative Committee of Armenia initiated criminal proceedings for participation in ‘mass disturbances,’ leading to the detention of over 30 individuals. They now face potential prison sentences of up to three years. Notably, no significant protests materialized in Yerevan at the time of Ghukasyan’s transfer, with only a small, quiet group of opposition activists eventually gathering outside the court.

During the court hearing, it emerged that Ghukasyan faces multiple charges, with his lawyer, Aramayis Hayrapetyan, asserting that ‘the majority of the described acts pertain to December 2024 and February 2025. During this period, Ghukasyan was not the head of the community… Only one of the six or seven episodes concerns his current authority.’ This raised questions about the timing and scope of the investigation.

Opponents of Prime Minister Pashinyan swiftly seized upon the incident, portraying it as further evidence of his alleged authoritarian tendencies. Armen Ashotyan, Deputy Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia, declared that arrests of clergy members (including Archbishops Mikael Ajapahyan and Bagrat Galstanyan), businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, and the events in Gyumri ‘leave no stone unturned of Nikol’s democratic bubble. There is no democracy in Armenia.’

The ‘Armenia’ bloc, led by former President Robert Kocharyan, went so far as to call on citizens to wage a struggle against what they termed the ‘regime.’ Their statement read, ‘We urge the citizens of Armenia to universally reject this government. Nikol Pashinyan has declared war on the Armenian people. Rest assured, he will lose this war.’ The ‘Po-nashemu’ (In Our Way) movement, linked to the disgraced oligarch Karapetyan, warned that without public protest, ‘Armenia will very soon turn into a totalitarian dictatorship.’

Armenian media widely interprets these events as a significant escalation in the ongoing power struggle between the authorities and the opposition, setting the stage for the parliamentary elections scheduled for June 2026. The government appears to be systematically neutralizing key opposition figures: prominent church leaders, an oligarch capable of funding opposition campaigns, and now a city mayor who had demonstrated that the ‘regime’ could be defeated at the ballot box. Meanwhile, in a diplomatic win for Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced the lifting of restrictions on goods transit to Armenia – a long-sought concession since the second Karabakh war. The first delivery is expected to be grain from Kazakhstan. For the Armenian opposition, concrete achievements remain elusive.