Bulgaria Detains Six, Including Defence Officials, as Russian Spies

The Ministry of Defence in Sofia, Bulgaria. Derzsi Elekes Andor, Wikipedia, Creative Commons 4.0

The prosecution said six people had been detained, including three from the Ministry of Defence. General Prosecutor Ivan Geshev called the operation "unprecedented" at a press conference on Friday, saying that the suspects were part of the bigger group carrying out Russian espionage and headed by an agent who Geshev referred to "The Resident" - and his wife.

A video of a meeting between some of the alleged spies was released on YouTube by the prosecution in which "the Resident" visits the Russian embassy in Sofia.

Bulgarian National Television said officers raided several locations in the southern neighbourhoods of Sofia on March 18. Some media outlets said as many as 50 locations or more were raided by Friday. Nova TV added that one suspect was detained after trying to escape. Bulgarian National Radio reported an increased police presence around exits of the capital in connection to the operation.

The six detainees will be behind bars for 72 hours.

There have been several controversies in recent years over alleged Russian spying activity in Bulgaria.

In the latest affair, on September 24, 2020, two Russian diplomats suspected of espionage on Bulgaria's military were named personae non grata.

In January 2020 two Russian diplomats were expelled although Anatoliy Markov, Russia's then-ambassador, complained that he was not officially informed about the charges. 

Earlier, in September 2019, Nikolay Malinov, leader of a pro-Russian NGO, the Russophile National Movement, was charged with spying. At the same time, a former senior Russian intelligence officer, Leonid Reshetnikov, was barred from entering Bulgaria.