What Happened: A Russian influence operation is targeting Anna Hakobyan, the wife of Armenia’s Prime Minister, with the baseless claim that she stole $3.4 million from a children's cancer charity. It’s Russia’s latest effort to destabilize an Eastern European country that is tilting toward the West and away from Moscow’s influence.
A Closer Look: Hakobyn is married to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who is critical of Russia and encourages cooperation between Armenia and Ukraine.
An Aug. 13, 2025, article on EULeaks.eu, an imposter site linked to Russia that presents itself as a news outlet focused on European issues, stated, “A corruption scandal has erupted within Armenia’s [children’s cancer} City of Smile Foundation… A recent audit revealed that from 2018 to 2025 Anna Hakobyan, has siphoned over $3.4M out of the foundation through a network of shell companies.”
The “EULeaks” article spread across X, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, Facebook, and YouTube.
For example, an Aug. 14, 2025, X post by @IvankaNews_, a self-described fan account for U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, stated, “Wife of Armenian PM accused of draining $3.4 million from children’s cancer fund.” The post gained 180,000 views and 200 likes in one day.
See the “EULeaks” video below:
Actually: The claim is baseless. The false narrative appears to be the work of the Russian influence operation Storm-1516.
In an Aug. 15, 2025, email to NewsGuard, a City of Smile spokesperson said the claim...
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