By Arshaluys Barseghyan
MOSCOW (OC-Media) — The Russian state-run media outlet RT reported on February 21 that two Armenian citizens have been detained in Russia in connection with the murder of Arbat battalion founder Armen Sargsyan. RT reported investigators believe Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) could be behind the assassination.
RT reported that two individuals, identified only as 44-year-old Arman P and 61-year-old Hrachya P, were detained in Moscow “almost two weeks ago” as part of the investigation into the “murder” of Sargsyan.
According to RT, the Russian authorities were considering two possible reasons for the killing, with the first suggesting that the fatal explosion “could have been organized by Sargsyan’s business competitors.”
“However, the priority version of the investigation is that the [military intelligence agency] of Ukraine could be behind Sargsyan’s murder, since his battalion ‘Arbat’ became part of the Russian Defense Ministry in 2023” and was participating in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The source also reportedly stated that Russian intelligence “received information that the HUR had been developing an operation to eliminate Sargsyan for more than three months, and had been keeping him under surveillance since the beginning of 2025.”
