A woman in a white jacket arrived at the Russian embassy in Sofia; It is found in an animated conversation with a stranger. Inside a government office, a surveillance camera calculates a man’s money at his desk, apparently in exchange for his spying. And in a disrupted phone call, the alleged leader of the group is heard telling a colleague how his father cried when Stalin died. Then they talk about money.
The recordings made by Bulgarian investigators on Friday were released because the prosecutor had made representations against six Bulgarians – many of them senior or former defense officials – on suspicion of spying for Russia.
Prosecutors allege that the group “poses a serious threat to national security by collecting and handing over the secrets of a foreign country to Bulgaria, NATO and the European Union.”
They also released a memo allegedly written by the group’s leader, which set out the priorities of the spy ring in a mix of Bulgarian and Russian, including NATO meetings, EU policy towards Russia and intelligence on Ukraine and Belarus.
Prosecutors said the arrested woman, whose name has not been released, has dual Bulgarian-Russian nationality and served as an intermediary at the embassy. In return she received cash for the group’s operations. The plaintiff also stated that she was the wife of the leader of the spy ring. They called him “The Resident” and said he was a former member of a high-ranking official in Bulgaria’s defense ministry.
Many of those arrested held senior positions in Bulgaria’s defense ministry and military intelligence service, suggesting that the alleged conspiracy may have reached highly classified information.
The country’s chief prosecutor, Ivan Gashev, called the spying “unparalleled since 1944”.
On Monday, the Bulgarian government announced the expulsion of two Russian diplomats, bringing the total number of Russian officials to eight by kicking them out of Bulgaria by the end of 2019. Last December, Russia’s military alliance in Sofia was ousted following allegations that it had assembled. U.S. troops located on Bulgarian territory during military exercises. Service member information.
Over the weekend, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov called on Moscow to stop its espionage operations in Bulgaria. But given Bulgaria’s shared Slavic heritage with Russia – and its reliance on Russian energy, Borisov added: “Friendship is friendship, we have always shown it.”
As part of this, the Russian embassy in Sofia responded that “the tireless efforts to wedge the Russian-Bulgarian dialogue and make our country haunted once again are clear.”
Until 1989, Bulgaria was one of the most loyal members of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. Now, as a member of NATO and the European Union, Western analysts say it is a favorite target for Russian espionage. If Vienna was the epicenter of post-World War II espionage in Europe, Sophia could claim that dubious title today.
Russians close to the Kremlin have backed pro-Russian groups in Bulgaria. One of those groups – the Rusophils National Movement – is led by Nikolai Malinov, who was accused by a Bulgarian prosecutor of spying for Russian organizations and soliciting money. His case is still pending and Malinov has maintained his innocence.
Bulgarian prosecutors allege he wrote a document “outlining the steps needed to completely reform Bulgaria’s geopolitical approach, move it away from the West, and bring it closer to Russia.”
While waiting for the hearing, Malinov was allowed to travel from Bulgaria to Moscow, where he was presented by President Vladimir Putin with the Russian Order of Friendly Friendship.
Bulgaria’s lawyer-general has claimed that Malinov provided intelligence to a group called the Double-Head Eagle Society in Russia, run by Aligarh Konstantin Malofeev. Maloff is the champion of the Russian Orthodox Church and runs a TV network in Russia. He has previously suggested that Vladimir Putin should be made Tsar of Russia.
In 2019, due to his association with Malinov, Maloffie was banned from entering Bulgaria for ten years, which he acknowledged as a close thing. They tried but failed to buy the Bulgarian television network.
Russia regularly denies allegations of spying in Bulgaria. Last year, a spokesman for Russia’s foreign intelligence service, Sergei Ivanov, accused the US intelligence service of campaigning against people in Eastern Europe who wanted better relations with Russia. Bulgaria, he told the Russian media, has become the center of the campaign.
The latest arrests have further strained relations between Moscow and Sofia, which are traditionally close due to the shared Slavic and Orthodox Ox culture.
But if the Bulgarian prosecutors are right, the Kremlin sees Bulgaria as an inviting target – the back door of intelligence about NATO and the European Union, and the weapons reaching Ukraine.
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