site.btaRussian Authorities Have Not Approached Bulgarian Interior Ministry about Dual National Detained for Terrorism

Addressing Parliament during Question Time on Tuesday, caretaker Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said that his Ministry has not been approached so far by the Russian authorities for information about Denis Petranov, who holds dual Ukrainian and Bulgarian nationality, nor has Russia confirmed the news that Petranov had been detained for preparing an attack in Crimea.

Petranov became Bulgarian citizen in 2022.

"The General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime is competent to monitor whether there is illegal arms trafficking in the country. A working group was recently set up with Europol, making comparisons with various databases on each refugee in terms of whether there are links to terrorist organizations," Demerdzhiev pointed out.

A couple of weeks ago, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that it had detained Petranov among other "Ukrainian intelligence agents" who were preparing terrorist acts in Crimea.

The FSB alleged that Petranov who, according to them, owned a truck fleet, smuggled from Bulgaria explosive devices hidden under consignments of electric hot plates.

Petranov's wife Marina Petranova turned to the Bulgarian Embassy in Moscow, which did not respond for three weeks and then told her that they were unable to help because Bulgaria does not recognize Crimea as part of Russia, NOVA TV reported.

The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry and the Ukrainian Embassy in Sofia have reserved comment.