Arms dealer ‘100% sure’ Russian agents behind blast at Bulgarian depot

A Bulgarian arms dealer who survived an apparent novichok poisoning in 2015 said he was "100% sure" that Russian operatives were behind an explosion and subsequent fire at one of his depots in the country on Sunday.

"There is no way this could be an accident, there was nothing in the building that could have detonated without outside interference," Emilian Gebrev said in a telephone interview.

The explosion hit a warehouse near the Bulgarian town of Karnobat in the early hours of Sunday morning.

It is the fifth time in recent years that blasts have occurred at facilities belonging to Emco, Gebrev's arms company. Bulgarian prosecutors have linked previous attacks to Russian operatives.

Gebrev fell into a coma in 2015 and western authorities and intelligence agencies believe he was poisoned with the nerve agent novichok by officers from Russian military intelligence, the GRU. He said this weekend's fire was likely to be their work as well.

Gebrev said he had spoken to his director of security, who reported an alarm system was triggered at the warehouse in the moments before the blast, suggesting an intrusion. Guards on the scene were preparing to investigate when they heard a huge explosion. Nobody was hurt.

He said there should be CCTV recordings that would show any intruders, but that so far police and investigators had been unable to enter the premises due to the possibility of further explosions. He said he hoped a proper investigation would start on Monday evening.

Gebrev said the warehouse contained munitions meant for African countries that had been ordered several years ago but the buyers had not followed through with payment. He declined to specify the types of weapons or their value.

Gebrev's apparent targeting by the GRU has led many to believe he must be involved in arms supplies to Ukraine. Last year, he told the New York Times in an email his companies had been involved in shipping weapons to Ukraine, something he had previously denied.

Now, he again insisted he had not had any dealings with Ukraine since the signing of the Minsk peace deal in late 2014 that led to a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. He said he had not provided any arms deliveries to the country since Russia's full-scale invasion in February this year.

Whatever the reason, Gebrev has apparently made powerful enemies in Russia. Between 2011 and 2020, blasts hit four warehouses and production facilities linked to his company. Last year, the Bulgarian foreign ministry expelled a Russian diplomat over suspected Russian involvement in the blasts, and called on Moscow to help with the investigation.

Bulgarian prosecutors said there was a "reasonable assumption" the four blasts were linked to the poisoning attempt on Gebrev. His son and a company director also fell into a coma.

"I almost died," said Gebrev, recalling the attack in a 2019 interview with the Guardian.

The investigative website Bellingcat has released evidence suggesting a team of GRU agents was in Bulgaria at the same time as the poisoning.

Gebrev said Russian diplomats were "the tip of the iceberg" and complained that Bulgarian authorities had not been able to bring any of the cases to court.

"It's been 11 years since the first explosion and nobody has been punished for this," he said.