War tests Bulgarians’ pro-Russia sentiment

Sofia, Bulgaria – “Russians are our Slavic brothers” is a common slogan in Bulgaria, but the Ukraine war is putting widespread Russophile sentiment to the test.

“We are here to prove that there are not only Putinophiles in Bulgaria,” IT expert Stanimir Ganev said at a recent pro-Ukraine march in the capital Sofia, referring to supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Fellow protester Maria Kostadinova, a 23-year-old PhD student, said “defending Ukraine is a choice of civilisation” that aligns Bulgaria with other Western nations.

The Sofia march drew thousands as Bulgaria grapples with its identity.

Unlike in most other European countries, regular pro-Russian rallies have been held alongside pro-Ukrainian gatherings, resulting in stand-offs near a communist-era Soviet army monument in Sofia as both camps call each other “fascists”.

At one such pro-Russian rally, teacher Galina Stoyanova said the images of atrocities in Ukraine were “a Hollywood production”.

He described the Russians as “two-times liberators” who “sacrificed themselves in 1878” to end Bulgaria’s Ottoman domination and then “freed Bulgaria from fascism in 1944”.

On social media too, tens of thousands of internet users avidly follow pro-Russian groups and accounts.

Activity in these groups has boomed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to AFP’s Fact Check service, which since then has devoted 85% of its articles to debunking fake information justifying the war or denigrating Ukrainian refugees.