A woman in a white jacket arrives at the Russian embassy in Sofia; she is seen in an animated conversation with an unidentified person. Inside a government office, a surveillance camera shows a man counting money on his desk, apparently the reward for his espionage. And in an intercepted phone call, the alleged leader of the group is heard telling an accomplice how his father cried when Stalin died. So they talk about money.
The recordings, made by Bulgarian investigators, were released on Friday, when prosecutors announced charges against six Bulgarians – several of them senior or former defense officials – on suspicion of spying for Russia.
Prosecutors claimed that the group “posed a serious threat to national security by collecting and handing over state secrets from Bulgaria, NATO and the European Union to a foreign country”.
They also released a memo allegedly written by the group’s leader, in a mixture of Bulgarian and Russian, setting out the priorities of the spy network, which included collecting information on NATO meetings, the EU’s policy towards Russia and information on Ukraine and Belarus.
Prosecutors said the arrested woman, who has not been identified, has dual Bulgarian-Russian nationality and served as an intermediary with the embassy. In return, she allegedly received money for the group’s operations. Prosecutors also said she is the wife of the leader of the spy ring. They referred to him as “The Resident” and said that he is a former high-ranking member of the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense.
Several of the prisoners held important positions in the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense and the Military Intelligence Service, suggesting that the alleged conspiracy may have had access to highly confidential information.
The country’s chief prosecutor, Ivan Geshev, described espionage as “unparalleled since 1944”.
On Monday, the Bulgarian government announced the expulsion of two Russian diplomats, bringing the total number of Russian officers expelled from Bulgaria to eight since the end of 2019. Last December, the Russian military attaché in Sofia was expelled after allegations that there were gathered information about US military personnel stationed in Bulgarian territory during military exercises.
Over the weekend, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov asked Moscow to stop its espionage operations in Bulgaria. But aware of Bulgaria’s shared Slavic heritage with Russia – and its dependence on Russian energy – Borissov added: “Friendship is friendship, we always demonstrate that.”
For its part, the Russian embassy in Sofia replied that “the tireless attempts to pave the way for Russian-Bulgarian dialogue and to demonize our country once again are obvious”.
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 of Russian espionage. If Vienna was the epicenter of post-World War II espionage in Europe, Sofia can claim that dubious title today.
Russians close to the Kremlin supported pro-Russian groups in Bulgaria. One such group – the National Russophiles Movement – is led by Nikolai Malinov, who was accused by Bulgarian prosecutors in 2019 of spying and laundering money for Russian organizations. His case has not yet come to trial and Malinov has maintained his innocence.
Bulgarian prosecutors claim that he wrote a document outlining “the steps that need to be taken to completely reform Bulgaria’s geopolitical orientation, moving it away from the West and bringing it closer to Russia”.
While awaiting trial, Malinov was allowed to leave Bulgaria for a trip to Moscow, where he was presented with the Russian Friendship Order by President Vladimir Putin.
Bulgaria’s attorney general claimed that Malinov provided intelligence to a group in Russia called the Double Headed Eagle Society, which is headed by oligarch Konstantin Malofeev. Malofeev is a champion of the Russian Orthodox Church and runs a TV network in Russia. He had already suggested that Vladimir Putin should become the czar of Russia.
In 2019, Malofeev was banned from entering Bulgaria for ten years because of his association with Malinov, whom he recognized as next. They had tried, but failed to buy a Bulgarian television network.
Russia routinely denies accusations of espionage in Bulgaria. Last year, Sergei Ivanov – a spokesman for Russia’s foreign intelligence service – accused the US intelligence services of launching a campaign against people in Eastern Europe who wanted good relations with Russia. Bulgaria, he told Russian media, has become the epicenter of that campaign.
The latest arrests have created another crisis in relations between Moscow and Sofia, which have traditionally been close because of a shared Slavic and orthodox culture.
But if Bulgarian prosecutors are right, the Kremlin regards Bulgaria as an inviting target – a back door to intelligence on NATO and the European Union, and the weapons that arrive in Ukraine.