Bulgarian Foreign Ministry summoned Russian ambassador after Grozev was put on the wanted list

Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova has been summoned to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry to discuss the situation around journalist Hristo Grozev, who was put on the wanted list the day before by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. About it informs Bulgarian National Television (BNT), the information was also confirmed by the Russian diplomatic mission.

“Due to the fact that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation has put Bulgarian investigative journalist Khristo Grozev on the federal wanted list, Russian Ambassador to Sofia Eleonora Mitrofanova has been summoned to a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the first working day after the holidays,” the Bulgarian ministry said in a statement.

According to the production calendar, the Christmas holidays in Bulgaria will last until December 28th.

In a conversation with TASS Mitrofanova clarifiedthat she was invited to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry on Thursday, December 29, to discuss “topical issues.” The ambassador assumes that the main topic of conversation will be the problems with learning the Bulgarian language in the new regions of Russia. Mitrofanova admitted that the meeting would also touch on the issue of Grozev.

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia announced on the wanted list of the Bulgarian journalist and head of the Bellingcat publication (included in the register of foreign media agents) Hristo Grozev on December 26. It was noted that he was looking for a criminal article, which specific offense was not specified.

On his Twitter page, Grozev said that he “has no idea” on what basis he was put on the wanted list. Source of the agency “RIA Novosti” claimsthat a case was initiated against the journalist for spreading fakes about the Russian army.

In addition, back in July, the FSB announced the disruption of the military intelligence operation of Ukraine, which was supervised by the special services of NATO countries, to hijack Russian combat aircraft. Grozev was also involved in this operation, the Russian intelligence service reported.

According to the FSB, Ukrainian intelligence officers tried to recruit Russian military pilots and promised them money and citizenship of one of the EU countries. The pilots were supposed to land the planes at Ukrainian airfields. The security service noted that the Ukrainian special services involved in the operation and their accomplices have been identified.