Political career and blog of Vardan Ghukasyan

After demobilization, the young man joined the military police, where he worked first as a medic and then in operational positions. In 2005, Ghukasyan graduated from the Armenian-Russian International University "Mkhitar Gosh", receiving a bachelor's degree in law. From 2010 to 2011, he worked in the Ministry of Defense, then served in the police and retired in 2014 at the age of 37.

Soon the ex-policeman went overseas and started his blogging activity. He published socio-political content on YouTube, Telegram and other platforms in an eccentric manner, with abundant use of obscene language, regularly giving out dirt on famous citizens, and quickly gained popularity. The blogger often contacted viewers live.

Political scientist and chairman of the Yerevan Press Club Armen Vardanyan shared in an interview with one of the publications where Ghukasyan gets his information from.

"Gukasyan is a former policeman who, both during his service in the military police and now, has a fairly wide network of informants. But if earlier he used this network in the line of duty, as he understood it, now he uses it to increase his own popularity as a blogger," the political scientist said.

Given his recognition, the Armenian blogger decided to start a political career. In 2022, he became one of the founders of the Voice of the People party and was elected its honorary chairman, and in 2023, he ran for mayor of Yerevan.

In May 2023, the scandalous politician was put on the international wanted list. He was charged with extorting $110,000 from Tigran Arzakatsyan, a former deputy and businessman, for not publishing compromising materials about him, as well as a number of other crimes.

Blogger and politician Vardan Gukasyan / Photo: @vardanghukasyan_1072

In January 2024, Gukasyan was scandalously expelled from the party after it was revealed that he had Russian citizenship and was registered in Kaliningrad, since according to the party charter, a citizen of another state cannot be a member. Soon, the politician announced the creation of the DOK party, which stood for "Democracy, Law, and Order."