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The prosecution and SANS revealed the polka dots of the russian embassy
The resident’s organization Ivan Iliev contacted with Russian diplomats expelled
Photographed recruited agents and registered since September
The former and current disbanded military intelligence spy group has fed information on expelled Russian diplomats over the past year and a half, the latest of whom is Vasily Sazanovich, a 24-hour source has learned from a source familiar with the research.
The group’s leader, Ivan Iliev, was a senior official in the Defense Ministry’s Military Intelligence until 2016.
graduate
Moscow, was
to study in
The essential
intelligence
management (GRU)
From Russia
His wife is Russian with Bulgarian citizenship. She had good contacts at the Russian embassy in Bulgaria and was her husband’s liaison with diplomats. On Friday, the Prosecutor’s Office released a video of the external monitoring of the investigation, which shows how the woman enters and leaves the building of the Russian embassy in Sofia.
Ivan Iliev, whom investigators call a resident, recruited two current military intelligence officers who are younger than him and two former ones, one of whom is Lyubomir Medarov. Until his arrest on Thursday
Medarov works
in the secret
office work
from the people
meeting,
where there is also a lot of classified information sought by the Russians.
Ivan Iliev set tasks for his agents, who had to search for and pass on secret information to him. According to the evidence found by SANS and the Prosecutor’s Office, these are:
4 NATO Coordination Center in Varna: tasks, development plans, personnel, financing;
4 NATO operations in different regions (plans, tasks, financing, results);
4 decisions of meetings of various NATO committees;
4 information from the NATO Information and Communications Agency;
4 issues related to NATO and EC policy towards Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and other former socialist republics;
4 data for the US Embassy Department of Defense or other data for the US (investment programs, repairs, equipment);
4 detailed information for contact persons with USA, Great Britain;
4 working meetings with American, British and German representatives, information about them and the topic of the talks;
4 joint programs and operations;
4 internships, trainings organized by NATO partners;
4 financial assistance;
4 activities of the CIA and other US intelligence services in Bulgaria.
However, these are just some of the topics on which the spy group sought information through their access to state secrets and passed it on to resident Iliev, and he relayed it to the Russian embassy through his wife.
After every Russian diplomat expelled in recent years, the prosecution reported that they had contacted Bulgarian citizens and
they have given money
for secrets
from NATO and the EU
It turns out that all the time SANS worked in the group of former and current Bulgarian military intelligence officers, which was disbanded on Thursday. Images and recordings of his conspiracy meetings were released, which took place before but also after the expulsion of Russian military attaché Vasily Sazanovich, also a former GRU cadre. He was declared persona non grata on December 18. (See box on page 3)
Following the arrests of the Russian spies, one of them confessed to anti-state activity and was released on bail. The other five are in custody and the Military Prosecutor’s Office will request the court to detain them permanently.
The group has been monitored since September last year, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Krassimir Karakachanov announced in Varna. According to him, there is no irreparable damage.
“Krassimir Karakachanov and the head of Military Intelligence Velko Atanasov, who is a worthy Bulgarian officer, have made a great contribution to the discovery of the group. I hope this case unites Bulgarian citizens, does not divide them. We protect our national interest, not we sell it and we pass it on.
We don’t hate anyone
foreign country,
but we are obliged
to protect
our “,
Chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev said at a briefing on Friday. Hours after the Russian embassy revelations, they also published their position:
The investigation against those accused of espionage has not yet been completed. We hope that until the court rules on this case, speculation about Russia’s alleged involvement in intelligence activities against Bulgarian interests will stop. We assume that the judicial investigation will be carried out on a depoliticized, impartial and objective basis, in strict accordance with the norms of Bulgarian and international law.
From the records it was clear that current military intelligence officers received between BGN 2-3 thousand per month to deliver classified information to their residents. “Now we cannot say how much they will give, because it depends on the material. But in general they give more often in foreign currency. How do you prefer, in foreign currency or Bulgarian lev? Because currency is a small double-edged sword. You have to go. And turn it around. After all, if they give you 2,000 BGN every month or 3,000 BGN? It’s still a sum, “said the resident in one of his meetings with a young colleague who was recruiting.
The fact that money was distributed is also evidenced by a camera recording, secretly installed in the office of one of the detained military officers. It clearly shows how the man takes out a white envelope, opens it and begins to count money.
Another video shows the other active member of the spy group filming on a phone for hours. He was given the camera to take pictures of documents on his office computer.
“You gave a lot of material last time. 4 batches. I saw what you gave to the flash drive. Okay. He’s satisfied, if you don’t give much we’ll see you in two months. And now I’ll tell you a little secret. Not everything can be processed here. It’s being shipped, you know. Now COVID has no planes, no diplomatic posts, it doesn’t need everything. It will copy the materials. We’ll see later. I said: we want specific tasks, because a lot of materials pass through you, right? like this? “Resident Iliev said in one of the recorded conversations. In another, he directly admits that he is a Stalin fan.” I’m not a bit pro-Soviet, I’m pro-Stalin.
I was 7 years old when it was announced in the morning. My father started crying. I want to tell you that my wife is also Russian. It is different, but the motive is a motive, not an insult. This is dangerous. I mean, after all, life is an era, boy. You see what’s going on, huh? Nobody counts you like a plum, if you can’t get money! ”, He is sincere with his agent Ivan Iliev, without suspecting that SANS and the prosecution are recording him.
The leader gave instructions to those he recruited. For example, during a dinner at a restaurant, he explains how to work with the camera he gave him to take pictures on his office monitor. “You will see the map and if something happens by accident, just click and it will break. It cannot be recovered. Keep the device at home, in the basement, in a drawer. Wrap it in aluminum foil and put a note:” Gift for Victoria “, as if in the future I would give her a gift,” says the resident.
“With the card?” Asks his agent from the Ministry of Defense. “With the card so you can take pictures. Now, at first, you won’t shoot much to see how they look. You can click on some. Materials that affect our situation, but also Russia, Ukraine, the Middle East, Iraq, Nagorno-Karabakh, It is very important, and that 8% of Poles who are at the center of the protests.
By the way, you’re going to tickle yourself. And if there is something that is secret, you can take pictures to see that you still have access to classified information, “Iliev instructed. He prefers digital so there are no traces of paper.
“You will be standing calmly in front of the screen. It can be done by taking pictures, taking pictures. Let’s see if it is read, if it does not fade” is another comment from the resident.
Conversations were also recorded between the leader of the spy group and his wife, who was photographed going to the Russian embassy.
“He will give, they will put you there again. If he accidentally gives money, in different envelopes. He says that one is me, two is the child, three are some. And to Lyubcho, a cross,” says Iliev, before his wife enter the embassy.
“He knows what, should I tell him?” He asks.
“You won’t tell him anything,” he replies. There is always a queue there. You enter without queuing. You have an hour, ”says the resident.
“How was it, do you know the last name?” His wife asks him about the man she needs to meet.
“Zinyakin, but I’m not sure. Alejandro? (There is no person with that last name in the Russian embassy, but there is Alexander Zinkin, who is part of the mission’s list of diplomats, along with several of those expelled so far ).
“Zinyakin?” His wife asks again.
“You know what it looks like, you will know it,” said the resident.
Investigators seized computers, phones, SD and SIM cards, information encryption devices, money, and documents. The investigation continues into the anti-state activities of the 6.
Nikolai Malinov traveled to Moscow, where Putin granted him an order. The United States then sealed the judge, who allowed him to go abroad.
6 Russian diplomats announced for persona non grata for a year and a half
Six Russian diplomats were declared undesirable in our country in just a year and a half, suspected of espionage.
The beginning was set on September 10, 2019, when the Special Prosecutor’s Office filed charges for espionage against the leader of the National Movement “Russophiles” Nikolay Malinov. Former KGB general Leonid Reshetnikov and Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeev were unable to enter Bulgaria for 10 years.
After the arrest of the 6 current and former military intelligence officers of the “Rebirth of the Fatherland” party, chaired by Nikolay Malinov, they released the following position:
We are witnessing another Bulgarian scandal with alleged espionage in favor of Russia. The prosecution makes complaints in the public domain and disseminates complaints of serious crimes against the State, which must be proven in court. The entire series of espionage scandals, which began with the indictment against Nikolai Malinov in the fall of 2019, is part of the systematic work of Bulgarian institutions to make Russia an enemy in the minds of Bulgarians and in an attempt to make matters worse. irreversibly the relations between our two countries, our two peoples.
Following the allegations against Malinov in late October 2019, the prosecution announced that it was investigating the first secretary of the Russian embassy, Vladimir Rusyaev. Due to his immunity, the criminal case against him was suspended, but he was declared persona non grata and left the country on a flight to Moscow.
At the end of January 2020, a new scandal followed. Then, after a signal from SANS, Dmitry Yaroshenko and Alexander Khvatov were expelled. Yaroshenko is the first secretary of the consular department and Khvatov is an employee of the commercial representation.
On September 24, Sergei Nikolashin and Vadim Bikov, deputy commercial attachés at the Moscow embassy in Sofia, were expelled. Investigators discovered that Nikolashin and Bikov were searching for classified information about plans to modernize the military.
On December 18, 2020, Bulgaria declared the military attaché Colonel Vasily Sazanovich persona non grata. The expulsion of the diploma was necessary for “actions incompatible with his diplomatic status.” (24 hours)
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