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I sent you a more detailed PM, but in a nutshell: you betcha this was a verdict on crooked Putin and his kleptocratic, megomaniacal models of governance. It is not a rejection of Russian cultural ties altogether.

Thanks for the reply. About my background, for context: My wife and her family were among the Armenians who were kicked out of Soviet Azerbaijan in 1987. I’ve been among the Armenian community for almost 10 years now, and have spent the last year as an expat, living in Krasnodarskiy Krai, Russia. I was actually in Yerevan in February/March when the new constitution took effect and the presidency switched over. I think I do understand Armenians quite well.

Your point might be right about rejecting the old power structures, but I think it is more subtle, in that they rejected it because of the way it tolerated corruption. I still maintain that this “revolution” was mainly about corruption. The brother of Serzh Sargsyan, Alexander (“Sashik”), is a household name in Armenia because of his blatant mafia-like activities that were tolerated by the state. The numbers of Armenians emigrating to Russia to escape this corruption and find a better life is actually astounding.