Armenian citizens arriving from Russia to participate in the June 7 parliamentary elections will be required to attend a mandatory 25-day military reserve training camp or face legal consequences, the deputy chief of the Prime Minister’s staff Taron Chakhoyan said. Chakhoyan issued a stark warning in a video posted to his social media stating that those who fail to report for the exercises will face criminal prosecution.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “Citizens of Armenia who arrive for bribes from Russia to vote for Samo from Kaluga will be called up for 25-day training camps, and whoever refuses will be prosecuted,” Chakhoyan said. Government officials in Yerevan have pointed out concerns regarding foreign influence aimed at supporting Samvel Karapetyan, the owner of Tashir Group conglomerate, and the “Strong Armenia” alliance, whose leader has a history of working in the Russian city Kaluga. The remarks came amid recent concerns from Yerevan and the Western capitals that Moscow is trying to influence the votes by mobilizing Russian-based Armenians against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, whose government has moved closer to joining the European Union in recent years. Gevorg Papojan, the Armenian Minister of Economy and Deputy Chairman of the governing party “Civil Treaty”, has issued a similar statement, saying that he is very pleased with the decision. “I am very happy, because, firstly, our polls show that most of these people will vote for us [“Civil Treaty”], and secondly, we need those people,” Papojan said, adding that 30,000-40,000 people will be sent to the meeting, “and only then they will return to Kaluga.”