Russian Institute for Strategic Studies

Bulgarian PM Boyko Borissov and his Russian counterpart Dimitri Medvedev discuss energy projects on August 12. Photo: EPA-EFE/VASSIL DONEV.

Prosecutor-general Sotir Tsatsarov told media on Tuesday that Nikolay Malinov has been charged with espionage and that a former senior Russian intelligence officer, Leonid Reshetnikov, has been barred from entering Bulgaria.

Andrey Sushentsov, a programme director at the Valdai Club - whose members meet Russian officials each autumn - told Sputnik news agency that Russia should not be expected to endanger relations with old allies like Serbia in order to improve its relationship with the US.

A state-funded think tank in Russia has alleged that Maidan-style protests will be staged "in the center of Sofia" before Bulgarian President-elect Rumen Radev takes up the office on Sunday.

The director of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISS), a think tank directly linked to the Kremlin, has claimed that U.S. troops deployed at Turkey's İncirlik Air Base were involved in the downing of a Russian jet last year.

The director of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISS), a think tank directly linked to the Kremlin, has claimed that U.S. troops deployed at Turkey's İncirlik Air Base were involved in the failed July 15 coup attempt. 

"We never believed it was the decision of the president to shoot down the plane. We know that outside forces were involved with that decision," said Leonid Reshetnikov, the head of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISS).

He was speaking on Oct. 31 at a conference organized by the Ankara Policy Center on the future of Turkish-Russian relations.