Bulgarian police conduct large-scale searches at the request of Ukraine’s NABU

Acting Bulgarian Interior Ministry Secretary General Myroslav Rashkov told reporters that the operation is taking place across the country. He said no arrests have been made so far.

Earlier the same day, the Bulgarian prosecutor’s office announced that it was overseeing searches and the seizure of materials at the homes and offices of individuals connected to arms trading. The searches are being conducted throughout Bulgaria at the request of Kyiv.

The request concerns an investigation in Ukraine into corruption schemes related to the sale of weapons at inflated prices. Law enforcement officers from various Bulgarian agencies, including the Interior Ministry’s General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime, are participating in the operation, BTA reported.

The German outlet Spiegel reported that on July 15, Bavarian investigators searched the home of former Ukrainian presidential deputy chief of staff Rostyslav Shurma in Starnberg, near Munich, at the request of Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU).

According to Ukrainska Pravda, the searches conducted by NABU at Shurma’s property were among the reasons that prompted President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to openly criticize NABU and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) for “ineffectiveness.” Just a week after the searches, Zelenskyy made a public statement and signed Law No. 4555, which significantly limited the independence of anti-corruption agencies.

However, after a series of large-scale protests and following the position of Ukraine’s European allies, the president submitted draft law No. 13533 to parliament, repealing the restrictions.

On July 31, lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, and Zelenskyy signed it into law.