The kremlin Is Reformatting Its Influence: Armenia and Moldova – in Crosshairs

first deputy head of the administration of the president of the rf sergei kiriyenko has become the new curator of the “Armenian direction” in the kremlin. He replaced another deputy head of putin’s administration, dmitry kozak, who had finally fallen out of the circle of those close to the russian dictator.

This appointment is evidence of sharpening of the struggle for power on the sidelines of the russian government and part of a broader process of strengthening the role of the internal political bloc led by kiriyenko. He has previously headed the “Moldovan” issue and coordinates similar activities in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

The key task assigned to kiriyenko is to organize opposition to Chisinau and Yerevan’s rapprochement with the West and ensure the victory of pro-russian forces in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Moldova (September 2025) and Armenia (2026).

To ensure the defeat of pro-European political forces, russia traditionally plans to use hybrid methods, such as media pressure on the current leadership of the countries, bribing voters, involving the “fifth” column, unification of opposition parties into a single bloc, and other tools of social engineering.