Christo Grozev: Russian Intelligence Targets Bulgaria’s Western Alignment

Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian investigative journalist, stated that the Russian secret services are focused on sowing instability and undermining the civilizational choices of Bulgaria and other nations. In an interview for bTV this morning, Grozev shared that he has been working on a new investigation for several months, which will be revealed tomorrow. According to him, it will highlight the channels of Russian propaganda operating in Bulgaria.

Grozev hinted that this new project will keep at least one Bulgarian journalist awake tonight. He said the investigation centers on the hacking department of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence, and it has ties to Bulgaria. The journalist revealed that this new espionage activity, which he has been exposing over the past six months, involves the GRU’s notorious operations unit - the same one behind the poisonings of the Skripal family and Emilian Gebrev. He added that this unit also runs a hacking department, which has recruited 12 students from a university in Voronezh, Russia, since 2019.

Turning to the recent convictions in the UK of six Bulgarians accused of spying for the Kremlin, Grozev noted that they came very close to abducting him twice. He said they had been at his home and watched him even while he was on vacation.

On the matter of the euro referendum requested by the president, Grozev argued that there is a direct link between the president’s statements and Moscow’s agenda. He pointed out that revisiting a matter that has already been settled by the country in a civilizational sense serves only foreign interests.

Grozev also described the signing of a cooperation agreement between a party in Bulgaria’s 51st National Assembly and Vladimir Putin’s party as a deliberate provocation.