Pro-Armenian blogger Samvel Karapetyan has been stripped of Russian citizenship acquired by birth.

Blogger and author of the Telegram channel Sis Masis, Samvel Karapetyan, has been stripped of Russian citizenship, which he held from birth. The blogger announced this on his Telegram channel, and this information was confirmed by his lawyer, Violetta Volkova.

Karapetyan received a corresponding notification from the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Tambov region back in May. In the letter, the police specified that the decision was made, among other reasons, due to “actions creating a threat to the national security of the Russian Federation.”

“I filed a complaint. I clearly proved that I am a citizen by birth: the son of a Russian army service member who served in Transcaucasia and later in Tambov. My parents never had any other citizenship, and I did not acquire it either—I received it as the child of a Russian Army service member born in the USSR. At the time my father was serving in the Soviet, and later the Russian Army, he did not receive any other citizenship. I have never been a citizen of another state,” the blogger wrote.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs sent an official response to Karapetyan’s complaint, stating that the decision remained in force. The agency also described the blogger’s citizenship as “acquired.” The “Slovo Zashchite” project pointed out that, according to the law of the Russian Federation of 17 June 1993 No. 5206-I “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation,” the child of a Russian citizen or a service member who served in the USSR/Russian Federation automatically receives citizenship by virtue of birth. This is not the only Russian law setting out the principles and rules for succession of citizenship for children of citizens of Russia and the USSR.

The news outlet “Agentstvo” writes, citing Karapetyan, that for a long time he held only Russian citizenship. He only became a citizen of Armenia in 2021. The publication also reports that Karapetyan was born in the Georgian SSR and witnessed the dissolution of the USSR in Georgia. In an interview with “Agentstvo,” OVD-Info lawyer Valeria Vetoshkina noted that if, at the time of the USSR’s breakup, a family was living in a Soviet republic and chose Russian citizenship independently, then such citizenship is considered acquired.

Karapetyan himself believes the decision was politically motivated due to his criticism of Russia’s policies towards Armenia.

“I do not rule out that my positions on the channel may also have been a reason: I have consistently criticised the Kremlin’s policy towards Armenia, and it was after this that the pressure on me intensified. (Although I have always supported, and continue to support, the special military operation). But most importantly, I have serious grounds to believe that the Azerbaijani diaspora is also involved. Since the channel opened, they have been pursuing me, distributing information about my family, threatening me and continuing to do so, up to and including death threats,” Karapetyan commented.