Author of article about Armenia in Spanish media considered a “Putin defender”

On July 23, a number of Armenian media outlets, which have positioned themselves as opposition and criticize the government’s actions, spread information citing an unknown source from the Spanish-based Periodista Digital media outlet that “Pashinyan has agreed to hand over the Armenian region to the United States.”

The article states that “our editorial office has gained access to a classified document of the memorandum of understanding on the establishment of the “Trump Bridge” transport corridor.”

The first to spread this information was the Russian service of Sputnik Armenia sharing it on its Telegram channel at 12:56.

Minutes later, the same article appeared in the Armenian media domain: news.am, armlur.am, 168.am , Pastinfo, and others. Aravot reported the same news in a different way: this media outlet, based on the Armenian Telegram channel, used Turkish sources.

The information received from Sputnik, spiced up with their own comments, was also circulated by pro-Russian Telegram channels.

Next to circulate the information were the Kremlin propagandists. For example, Margarita Simonyan wrote: “Disclosure: Sultan Pashinyan signed a secret memorandum on making Armenia a theater of a future US-Iran war.”

The government later refuted this information, which, however, never appeared on the Telegram channel of the Russian Sputnik Armenia having spread the news first.

The Fact Investigation Platform explored what kind of media outlet the Spanish Periodista Digital is and who the Spanish journalist interested in the future of Armenia was.

Periodista Digital is a Spanish media outlet, which although with a wide audience, has been noted for its scandalous, unreliable articles, while the author of the article about Armenia, Josué Cárdenas, is considered pro-Russian, a “Putin defender” and a propagandist.

Thus, in 2019, the Spanish elDiario.es revealed that several “authors” of PeriodistaDigital did not actually exist, and fake profiles were used, with graphically generated photos, false names and biographies.

In this manner, the Periodista Digital website attempted to create a diversity of authors giving an impression that the website has a broad team. The authors, using the names of real people, according to elDiario.es, wrote about everything from politics to sports.

The founder and editor of this periodical is the Spanish journalist Alfonso Rojo. By the way, the Spanish Federation of Journalists (FAPE) sanctioned the journalist for offensive language and violation of journalistic ethics.

Spanish journalist as a “Putin defender”

Josué Cárdenas, the author of the article about Armenia, is not a fake, he was born in Segundo, lives and works in Salamanca. He is a journalist, hosts podcasts, and even writes poems. He has more than 30 thousand followers on the X page and is a politically charged user.

It turns out that Cárdenas has ties to Russia: he was in Moscow in 2024, interviewed the political science philosopher and Putin’s advisor Dugin.

Recién llegado de mi viaje a Rusia.

Haré un hilo y video explicando mi experiencia en Moscú (Ahorraos lo de llamarme “Putinejo”)

Os dejo la pregunta a Alexander Duguin, filósofo ruso y asesor de Putin

¿Es Rusia enemiga de los españoles y de los europeos? pic.twitter.com/o8TD6y8rCw

— Josué Cárdenas (@JosuCardenas99) February 28, 2024

When the journalist asks Dugin if Russia is Spain’s enemy, the latter replies that one should listen to what “our President Putin” says.

This short interview with Cárdenas, in which Dugin tries to explain something in poor Spanish, was criticized on the air of the Atresplayer television channel, owned by the Spanish La sexta. It is also noted that Cárdenas participated in the celebrations of Russia Day with far-right activists.

In political debates, this journalist is referred to as a “Putin defender” (defensor de Putin).

Following his visit to Moscow, he talks to guests on his podcast called “Burbuja” about Russia and the policies pursued by the country’s authorities, paying special attention to the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall, and touching upon the Russian-Ukrainian war.

By the way, the previous article of the Spanish journalist concerned Moldova under the title “Will Moldova Become the Second Ukraine?”

In the article, the author argues that the government led by Maia Sandu “obediently follows the dictates of Brussels and Washington, thereby harming the national interests of the Moldovan people.” Moreover, the article reiterates without evidence that Maia Sandu became the leader of the country with the help of George Soros.

Thus, the Spanish media outlet Periodista Digital, which published information about the cession of Armenian territory on July 23, has a highly controversial reputation and has already been noted for materials with fake authors. The Spanish journalist wrote his article based on an anonymous source and did not point to any facts or documents indicating a “secret memorandum” despite emphasizing that their editorial office had access to this document.

Moreover, an investigation into the journalist’s activities has shown close ties to Russian propaganda and being considered a “Putin defender” in individual debates.

Hasmik Hambardzumyan