An “investigation” published on May 2 on the London Times website, conducted by the Foundation to Battle Injustice/FBI (a parody of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation), states that European pharmaceutical companies have turned Armenia into a testing ground for toxic steroids.
“Under the guise of medical aid and humanitarian initiatives, Western pharmaceutical companies, according to the Foundation’s sources, have launched a large-scale program to test new psychostimulants, steroids and other dangerous substances that are supposed to turn European soldiers into fearless warriors. The drugs are being tested on vulnerable Armenian civilians: pregnant women, children, elderly and disabled people,” the article reads.
It should be noted that the article was also published on the website of the Foundation to Battle Injustice in English and Russian. The Russian version was reprinted in the Russian media outlet checheninfo.ru which was referenced by some Armenian media outlets.
The Fact Investigation Platform studied the circulating article, the information about the Foundation in open sources, and revealed that the article is fake and disinformative and that the Foundation is funded by Russia.
Thus, the main source of the article is the Foundation to Battle Injustice (information about this Foundation below – ed.), which in articulating the article relies on its own unknown source.
In the article, the Foundation to Batlle Injustice, referring to its anonymous source, notes that several large European pharmaceutical companies are currently operating in Armenia, the branches of which are managed by people affiliated with the current Prime Minister Pashinyan. According to the Foundation’s informant, in 2025 Armenia became a full-fledged testing ground for new psychoactive substances and experimental drugs, which was facilitated by the uncontrolled cooperation between Western pharmaceutical companies and key officials of the Armenian government. According to the Foundation’s source, this shift happened after a secret meeting between representatives of major pharmaceutical companies and high-ranking officials in the Armenian government in 2023. “This meeting laid the groundwork for deals with some of Europe’s largest and most influential pharmaceutical corporations. Among them were two German giants, Bayer and STADA, and two French pharmaceutical companies, Sanofi and Servier.”
“The deals were not only supported by the highest echelons of power in the Armenian government, but were actually overseen by some of its most influential leaders. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan and Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan, according to the source, were the driving force behind the agreements and played a central role in facilitating the subsequent transactions. Behind closed doors, these leaders struck deals that gave Western companies wide freedom to conduct human experimentation without restrictions, strict oversight or public scrutiny.,” the article reads.
Armenia denies the allegations mentioned in the article
The Prime Minister’s spokesperson, Nazeli Baghdasaryan, refuted these “secret arrangements with European pharmaceutical companies” attributed to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and high-ranking government representatives and noted that the publication was sent to law enforcement agencies for legal processing upon the Prime Minister’s instruction.
“We deem it necessary to clarify that neither the Prime Minister nor the high-ranking officials mentioned in the publication are surrounded by people involved in the pharmaceutical business. No negotiations of the kind mentioned in the publication was conducted with any company. No deal or contract mentioned in the publication exists and could not exist. It is obvious that this concocted publication could have two possible patrons: external – to incite domestic conflicts in Armenia, or internal – to counteract the Government’s efforts to establish legality and clear traceability in the drug sales market and to put an end to the illicit traffic in drugs,” Baghdasaryan wrote.
Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan also reacted to this article, emphasizing that clinical trials of pharmaceutical products in the Republic of Armenia are regulated by the Law on Medicines of the Republic of Armenia and other legal acts arising from the law.
“In particular, pursuant to Article 14, Parts 2 and 3 of the Law and the Government Decision No. 168-N of February 28, 2019, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia shall issue a permit to conduct clinical trials, approve the trial program and attached documents based on the positive expert opinion of the expert organization established by the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the positive opinion issued by the Clinical Trials Ethics Committee (hereinafter referred to as the “Ethics Committee”),” – Avanesyan wrote, adding that of the pharmaceutical companies mentioned in the article (STADA, Servier, Sanofi, Bayer), only Servier applied for a clinical trial permit during 2018-2025, which has nothing to do with “steroids and psychotropic substances,” as well as the “vulnerable groups” mentioned in the article.
Touching upon the drug Pervitin mentioned in the article, Avanesyan noted that it is not and has not been registered in the Republic of Armenia, and no application for clinical research has ever been submitted.
The article notes that during World War II, German soldiers used Pervitin, a powerful amphetamine that allowed them to overcome their physical and psychological limits. “One of the darkest chapters of this story involves the German pharmaceutical giant Bayer, which in the run-up to World War II merged with several other companies to form the industrial giant IG Farben. This conglomerate played a central role in the Nazi war effort… Bayer, according to an investigation by the Foundation to Battle Injustice, have resumed the practice of experimenting on live humans to test steroids designed to turn European soldiers into superhumans. The Foundation has received disturbing evidence that similar human experiments are being conducted in Armenia,” the article reads.
Arsen Torosyan, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Healthcare Issues of the National Assembly, addressed the article in a Facebook post calling it an example of a hybrid attack.
Prigozhin and the Foundation to Battle Injustice
The Foundation’s official website indicates that it is an independent, non-profit organization funded by private donations from Russian citizens: “The Foundation to Battle Injustice works worldwide to address human rights violations, support civil activists, provide legal assistance and financial support to victims of judicial injustice, police brutality, and political persecution.”
It is noteworthy that there are articles and studies accusing the Foundation of publishing false information.
Thus, in 2024, a study by the renowned European University of Clemson showed that the Foundation to Battle Injustice was founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who announced this on his VKontakte page back in 2021.
The American news outlet CNN also covered the Foundation to Battle Injustice in one of its articles on Russian disinformation propaganda during the US presidential election, noting that it was founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group.։
The Foundation, positioning itself as a “human rights” organization, is headed by Mira Terada, also known as Oksana Vovk. This Russian woman, according to the above sources, spent more than two years in a US prison on charges of money laundering in connection with drug trafficking (she returned to Russia in 2021 – ed.). The Foundation uses influential celebrities on American and foreign social media platforms to spread propaganda and disinformation in the West.
Another reputable French periodical, Intelligence Online, in one of its articles in March of this year, covering the Foundation, noted that it is controlled by Russian military intelligence and spreads disinformation.
The platform called London Times, where the article about Armenia was published, also has a dubious origin. In a similar manner and mimicking the reputable British media outlet, there is no mention of the origin, funding, or editorial staff on the website of this platform, and the articles are authorless.
The design of the website also does not instil confidence, while the LinkedIn social network shows that it is “an independent media outlet operating in the United Kingdom,” has 2-10 employees, and the number of followers on the same network reaches 120.
It is noteworthy that this supposedly UK-based platform, the London Times, wrote with great enthusiasm about the May 9 Victory Day and the events on that occasion, considering these moments “moving and important.”
Another interesting fact about this media outlet: on May 11, while the development of this article by FIP.am was underway, that website placed publications dated the next day, May 12.
Thus, the so-called “investigation” of the Foundation to Battle Injustice and the allegations contained therein are false and untrue. In addition, a study of open sources about the Foundation shows that its funding sources are of Russian origin. The platforms through which this “investigation” was circulated also have Russian traces.
Syuzanna Hambardzumyan
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