Bulgaria demanded the recall of two Russian diplomats

Bulgaria has demanded the recall of two Russian diplomats over espionage for Russia. A note has already been handed to Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova. According to BNT sources, the Russian foreign intelligence officers Maxim Ribkin, first secretary at the Russian embassy, ​​and Alexander Zinkin, second secretary, received documents classified as "NATO: secret". There are operational data for frequent meetings of their wives Elena Zinkina and Evgenia Sofronova with the wife of Ivan Iliev, the so-called “Resident”.

Under a signal of the State Agency for National Security, pre-trial proceedings have been instituted for crimes against the Republic of Bulgaria under Art. 104, para. 1 and Art. 109 of the Penal Code.

In the course of the investigation, it was established that the two citizens of the Russian Federation were engaged in unregulated intelligence activities incompatible with diplomatic relations.

It was also established that the two Russian citizens enjoy diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

In this regard, today, March 22, Bulgaria’s Chief Prosecutor, Ivan Geshev, officially informed the Minister of Foreign Affairs about what was established in the course of the investigations.

After nearly 24 hours of sittings, the Sofia Military Court remanded in custody five out of the six detained for espionage for Russia.

The Prosecutor’s office claims that they have gathered enough evidence against the so-called "Resident" - Ivan Iliev, former head of the Military Intelligence; his former colleague and head of the classified information registry in Parliament, Lyubomir Medarov; the deputy head of the Directorate for Budget and Expenditures of the Army in the Ministry of Defense - Colonel Petar Petrov and one current employee of military intelligence. The wife of the alleged leader of the Resident ‘s group, Galina Ilieva, who has dual citizenship, also remains in custody.

She was the accused's liaison with the Russian embassy and, according to the evidence, handed over the secret documents to Russian diplomats. The second Military Intelligence officer, who was charged, is on bail. He testified and made full confessions.

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Bulgarian authorities have taken into custody six members of a group, led by a former senior Military Intelligence officer, who built an intelligence network committing espionage for Russia, it was announced at a briefing of the Prosecutor’s office on March 19.

The group has been involved in collecting classified information that is a state secret and making it available to Russia.

The alleged leader of the group is a former officer of the “Military Intelligence", whom investigators call “The Resident”. He recruited people who had access to NATO and Bulgarian state secrets.

Other members of the group included military personnel employed or formerly employed at the Military Intelligence Service.

The wife of the alleged leader of the group also participated in the group. She has dual Bulgarian and Russian citizenship. Her role was of a mediator between “The Resident” and an employee of the Russian embassy in Sofia.