On September 24, a day of shocking events unfolded as a masked gunman assassinated the Mayor of Parakar and an off-duty police officer in Armenia, while Boris Avagyan, a former envoy to the dissolved separatist Nagorno-Karabakh presidency, was discovered dead at the Armenian Consulate in St. Petersburg under suspicious circumstances.

Death of Volodya Grigoryan 

Volodya Grigoryan, the Mayor of Parakar, and Karen Abrahamyan, an off-duty Criminal Police officer, were shot and killed by a masked gunman. According to Armenian authorities, the victims were standing on the street when the attacker, wearing a mask and gloves, opened fire. Interior Ministry Spokesperson Narek Sargsyan stated that the three men had just exited a house and were talking in front of the gate when they were shot. CCTV footage showed the victims attempting to flee as the assailant fired from a distance before rushing toward them and shooting them multiple times.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan condemned the "brazen armed attack," calling on law enforcement agencies to identify everyone involved. He emphasized that a detailed review must also be conducted into what preventative measures had failed in Parakar, stressing that "necessary conclusions will be drawn from this investigation." Anahit Manasyan, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, strongly condemned the crime, stating that "such grave crimes undermine public safety and endanger the guarantees of the rule of law." Opposition MP Taguhi Tovmasyan also reacted, writing that the attack was not only a tragedy for the community and the state but also proof that the law enforcement system "does not have control over the situation and is preoccupied with fulfilling political orders." Notably, Grigoryan was a member of the opposition Unity bloc and was elected mayor in April 2025, securing over 50% of the vote. His election was notable for the absence of Civil Contract party representatives at the inaugural session, as they boycotted the event.

Death of Boris Avagyan 

On the same day, Boris Avagyan, a former special envoy to the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh presidency, was found dead at the Armenian Consulate in St. Petersburg. Local police reported that Avagyan likely committed suicide. He had come to the consulate to request extradition to Armenia, where he was wanted for illegally crossing the border. Reports indicated that he went into the bathroom at the consulate, where he was later found dead. Avagyan had appeared in court the previous day on charges of tax evasion but reportedly fled the courtroom after saying he "needed to smoke." Prior to this, he had struck an agreement with the Russian Defense Ministry to fight in Ukraine as a way to avoid prosecution, but his refusal to fulfill the contract led to the reopening of his case.

A video address, reportedly recorded at the Armenian Consulate, surfaced on September 25, in which Avagyan stated that he had been wanted in Armenia since February 2022 and stressed that he held only Armenian citizenship. He declared that he had "voluntarily presented" himself at the consulate and requested extradition, arguing that he wanted Armenia to pursue criminal prosecution so that he could "protect myself in the manner prescribed by law and the constitution." In the same video, Avagyan claimed that law enforcement authorities could not explain why the extradition process had not been carried out. Without specifying whether he was referring to Russian or Armenian police, he argued, "The fact is that they want to hand me over to the Russian law enforcement agencies so that my extradition will not take place," and he appealed to Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office to send police officers to carry out his extradition. Notably, Boris Avagyan was a 43-year-old Armenian-Russian dual citizen who held significant roles in both Russian and Armenian public service. He previously served as the deputy director of Rosimushchestvo, Russia’s Federal Agency for State Property Management, and as a special envoy to the now-dissolved presidency of separatist Nagorno-Karabakh. He was also known for his connections to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.