Уви, всичко, което @christogrozev изразява като опасения относно службите в България, е вярно. Преди години сирийският режим ми издаде присъда за “антидържавна дейност”. Нямаше да разбера, че има опасност за мен, ако не беше дипломат в българското посолство в Ливан. Накратко: От 2015 насам присъдата е потвърдена два пъти, заради което получавах заплахи от структури на режима на Асад и Хизбулла в Европа, действащи и в България. Въпреки сигналите, не се стигна до реакции от страната, за разлика от чужбина, откъдето получих предложения за подкрепа.

Russian army has appointed a 4th commander of the Western Military District since February as Evgeniy Nikiforov replaced Sergey Kuzovlev. This is another replacement of an officer close to Shoigu/Gerasimov with one loyal to Surovikin/Prigozhin. What is the link to Wagner? Thread: Nikiforov is one of the officers proving the connection between Wagner and the Russian security apparatus, which I have been talking about for a long time, and that it is not Prigozhin who "owns Wagner", but the GRU.

Russia may face a longer and deeper recession as the impact of US and European sanctions spreads, handicapping sectors that the country has relied on for years to power its economy, according to an internal report prepared for the government.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/… This is an important report, which is a result of months of work by Russian officials and experts trying to assess the true impact of Russia’s economic isolation. The report paints a far more dire picture than officials do in their public statements.

Thread: In 2018, with @avramovok we started researching the so-called Russian mercenaries. In 2020, this resulted in the first book on the topic. We called it Russian Invisible Armies on purpose. Because *they are not* mercenaries in the sense that Western media describe them.👇 Today, it is even more necessary to explain why it is wrong to describe them as mercenaries and to revisit the writings. The nature and command of groups like Wagner show a deep connection with Spetsnaz, coordination with the GRU, and service to Putin's inner circle.

Far from the international view, southern Syria shows the weaknesses of Russian forces. Moscow cannot hold territory; Russian forces use brute force but have trouble maintaining loyalty among the population of the occupied territories. Short thread: The Assad regime continues to have problems because of its incompetence and despite the Russian support and advice. Russian officers have tried several times to stop local riots, although Moscow allegedly reached an agreement a few years ago.

The Afghanistan refugee wave has already reached the Bulgarian (EU)-Turkish border. This also activated the heartless smuggling nets. Several hundred people a day try to enter; smugglers want €200-300 (likely will increase) per person while the local police close their eyes. This money is for low to middle smugglers in the network; from the refugees, smugglers want 3 times more. This is the cost for transport border to border i.e. Bulgarian-Turkish border to Serbia's borders. Many are transported to Sofia and border towns.

Thread: Yesterday, the @newlinesmag published my text on Wagner PMC and how such groups are used in the context of Putin's foreign policy. This is just an overview. Behind the scenes, the text summarizes the work of several years of tracing the topic.

newlinesmag.com/reportage/the-… Back in 2018, with @avramovok we launched a series of publications in @DefensePost related to Putin's Russia policy internationally and the footprint of Russian private military companies in Syria.

thedefensepost.com/2018/02/17/rus…

The 22-year-old Syrian-Bulgarian wrestler Mohamed Abdulqader goes to court. The Bulgarian specialized prosecutor's office accuses him of “terrorist activities” with his father, who is part of Sultan Murad Division. No evidences provided. 1/

Some details: aljazeera.com/news/2020/7/10… This case is part of similar suspicious arrests carried out in Bulgaria since 2017. The prosecution claims it is a “fight against terrorism”, but none of the detainees have anything to do with such activities. 2/

Protests across #Bulgaria for a week. This is the first mass wave of protests in 7 years. There is a lot to explain to the foreign observer, but the most important thing is that people are extremely disgusted by the corruption and Orban-style government. There are different groups in the protests. There is no clear leadership, but the protests began after an action by the democratic Yes, Bulgaria against luxury properties of State Security-related politician Ahmed Dogan and his circle.

A new wave of revelations about trading in abuse of power in Bulgaria reveals connections between businessman Plamen Bobokov and a presidential adviser. For example, Bobokov has asked for police records to be deleted for a Libyan with whom he has contact. We still don't know who this Libyan is, but he's from Benghazi. Most likely he helped with oil deals for a company where Bobokov participates - Prista Oil.

Bulgarian business has contacts in Benghazi for years, and Haftar was an opportunity. I am pretty sure there is a link.

To imagine what life is like in some government areas in Syria: my family really has no livelihood because orchards have been destroyed by the army and farmers have no access to the land as a collective punishment for ”supporting rebels”. One of my aunts has a disabled child. Her husband was killed. She has to support herself but cannot because of a lack of work. The family tries to help, but they do not have a livelihood because they haven't a right to cultivate the land. Absolute chaos.

От известно време имаше подадени сигнали срещу българи, живеещи в Кения. Техните дейности включваха източване на кредитни карти, връзки с мафията и т.н. Цитираната фирма SportPesa е напълно българско творение за милиони €. Нека разкажа малко за това.

news.bg/world/keniya-g… Фирмата SportPesa е създадена след като основателят й, Герасим Николов, успява да вкара пари за пране. Пет години след създаването си, фирмата е спонсор на Кенийската футболна лига, Евертън, Хъл Сити и с участие в Испанската лига.

Over 360,000 Bulgarian Turks left Communist Bulgaria to Turkey between 30 May 1989 and 22 August 1989 as part of the so-called Revival Process - a policy of forced assimilation of Bulgaria's Muslim minority. This 1989 expulsion is one of the largest ethnic cleansings in Europe. As part of the campaign, all Bulgarian nationals who were ethnically Turkish were forced to change their names to non-Muslim names amid much official intimidation, some violence and loss of life. Ethnic Bulgarian Muslims had already been forced to change their names in 1972.

This October marks 93 years of the French bombing of Damascus in 1925, predating by 12 years the Luftwaffe’s destruction of Guernica, which claimed an equal number of lives but is far better remembered. In result of the bombardment, around 5000 people were killed, and property for near $9 million were completely destroyed, equal to $128,249,479 today.

.@facebook removed my profile this morning for no reason (or i dont know any). I have a profile for years & tanks to it I reached readers and administered several pages, including of @globalvoices. I sent a message to FB with a copy of my document, and hope it will be restored. That is the answer from @facebook about my suspended account. This is absurd. I am author & journalist and never used my profile for threats. I believe the closure of my profile is because mass reporting by Assadists and pro-Kremlin profiles because of my opposition activities.