Two more Russian diplomats in Bulgaria investigated for espionage

Two other Russian diplomats have been investigated for espionage, the Prosecutor’s Office said on January 24. According to the Prosecutor’s office, one of the Russian citizens was a first secretary in the consular department at Russia’s embassy. The other one was on the staff of the Russian trade representation.

It was identified that in 2017 and 2018, the two diplomats had been gathering information on mechanisms related to Bulgaria’s electoral process, as well as in the area of energy and energy security. The information had been sent to the headquarters of the Russian intelligence service in Moscow.

Diplomatic sources told BNT that the Russian Ambassador Anatoly Makarov, who was called to Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry today, was accepted by a senior diplomat. 48-hour deadline was given for the Russian diplomats caught in espionage to leave Bulgaria. The ambassador said the deadline would be met.

The announcement comes less than three months after one of the first secretaries at the Russian embassy in Sofia had been identified as involved in espionage and had to leave the country, and after in September 2019, the head of the Russophile movement in Bulgaria, Nikolai Malinov, was charged with espionage.