Bulgarian prosecutors on Friday said six people had been arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia, among them several defense ministry officials in the EU and NATO member state.
The officials are accused of passing classified information to the head of the alleged spy ring, an ex-intelligence officer.
His wife, who has joint Russian-Bulgarian nationality, «played the role of intermediary between (the ex-officer) and the embassy of the Russian Federation,» prosecution spokeswoman Siyka Mileva told a press conference.
Mileva said the wife allegedly passed on confidential information about Bulgaria and its EU and NATO partners to «an employee of the Russian embassy,» who in turn gave her money to pay the network.
Mileva said that it was «the first time in our recent history» that such a spy ring had been uncovered.
Investigators say recordings of telephone conversations between the members of the group bear out the allegations.
There are also incriminating video tapes of the arrested defense ministry officials, described in a previous statement as military personnel.
Russo-Bulgarian relations have been hit by several spy scandals in recent years.
Between October 2019 and the end of 2020, five Russian diplomats and a technical assistant at the Russian embassy were expelled from Bulgaria.
Investigators said they had cooperated with Bulgarians to get access to sensitive information.
The rows have soured relations between the two former allies, which had maintained their close cultural, historical and economic ties even after the fall of the communist regime in 1989.
French Police Seek Russian Consulate Employee Over Bike Thefts
French police have issued an arrest warrant for a driver at the Russian consulate in Strasbourg suspected of selling dozens of stolen bikes while on the job, sources close to the inquiry said Monday.
The suspect, a Russian citizen in his 40s, does not have diplomatic immunity and was brought in for questioning on Feb. 14 but released 24 hours later as police pursued their investigation.
In the meantime, he has returned to Russia, ostensibly for health reasons, though the consulate refused to comment «on personal information» when contacted by AFP.
The case emerged last month when a former deputy mayor for the eastern French city, Alain Fontanel, had his pricey electric bike stolen on a street near the diplomatic quarter of the city.
Strasbourg is home to the Council of Europe, an organization of 47 member states that was founded in 1949 to uphold human rights, democracy, and rule of law in Europe.
A few days later, «I saw my bike, along with two others from the same brand, in an ad on Leboncoin,» a popular classified advertising site, Fontanel said.
He filed a complaint with the police, who contacted the seller and arranged for a meeting, at a side door of the Russian consulate.
The man who appeared produced a fake receipt of purchase complete with a Russian consulate stamp along with Fontanel’s bike — which the latter identified by confirming its serial number — and three other bikes.
Police took him into custody and confiscated the other bikes whose owners have not yet been identified.
They later discovered that some 300 ads for high-quality bikes had been posted on the Leboncoin site since January 2020, representing a potential value of up to $120,000.
The investigation remains underway, and prosecutors could decide to proceed with a trial even if the suspect remains out of reach.
