MOSCOW

Armenia said 101 people were injured during anti-government protests on Wednesday evening near the country's parliament building. 

Both protesters and police officers were among the injured, said the country’s Health Ministry on Thursday, adding that 85 were discharged after getting first aid, while the remainder were hospitalized.

On Wednesday evening, police began using stun grenades following a scuffle with opposition activists who tried to block the parliament building, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The demand for the resignation of Pashinyan and his Cabinet stems from Yerevan's defeat in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which many Armenians see as a national humiliation. In 2020-2023, neighboring Azerbaijan freed the Karabakh region from nearly three decades of Armenian occupation.

Critics have accused Pashinyan and his government of incompetence in various areas of governance, including economic management, handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and failure to implement promised reforms.

There is also general political discontent among certain sectors of the population and political groups who oppose Pashinyan's pro-Western policies.​​​​​​​