Bulgaria arrests Russian-Cypriot shipowner linked to Beirut port blast

The Bulgarian authorities have arrested shipowner Igor Grechushkin, a dual Russian and Cypriot national, in connection with the 4 August 2020 explosion that ripped through Beirut’s port. The detention took place at Sofia Airport on 5 September following a flight from Paphos, Cyprus.

According to Zdravko Samuilov, head of the Sofia Airport border police, the 48-year-old was identified during a passenger check. “After his identity was confirmed, the man was detained. He did not resist, and nothing suspicious was found in his luggage,” Samuilov said.

Grechushkin had been wanted on an Interpol red notice at the request of Lebanese authorities, who issued an arrest warrant in September 2020.

The Sofia City Court ordered him held for up to 40 days, a ruling later upheld on appeal. Within this period, Lebanon must provide the necessary documentation to support its extradition request. If extradition is denied, Beirut has indicated that investigators could travel to Bulgaria to question him.

The Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that on 6 September a man with the initials I.G. was detained for up to 72 hours with a view to extradition. It stated that the request was based on charges related to the import of explosive materials into Lebanon, a terrorist act resulting in mass casualties, and actions intended to sink a vessel.

A devastating blast still without justice

The explosion in 2020 was one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in history. According to the Associated Press, the detonation of hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a port warehouse killed at least 218 people, wounded more than 6,000 and caused billions of dollars in damage across Beirut. Entire neighbourhoods were flattened, pushing Lebanon further into despair amid an already severe economic collapse.

The AP noted that many families of victims placed their hopes in Judge Tarek Bitar, the magistrate tasked with investigating the disaster. Bitar unsettled Lebanon’s entrenched political class by pursuing senior officials who had long obstructed the probe.

Each year since the tragedy, relatives have gathered at the port to commemorate the victims. While the protests have become smaller and less confrontational than in the immediate aftermath, they remain a symbol that Beirut’s citizens have not forgotten. Still, five years on, no official has been convicted. The initial outrage has been dulled by deepening economic turmoil and by new waves of violence, including last year’s devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which killed around 4,000 people in southern and eastern Lebanon, according to AP.

New leadership, new promises

Lebanon entered 2025 with a new political leadership, as Joseph Aoun assumed the presidency and Nawaf Salam became prime minister at the head of a government promising reform. Both pledged to complete the stalled investigation into the port disaster and to ensure accountability.

“There will be no settlement in the port case before there is accountability,” Salam declared in August, as quoted by AP.

Judge Bitar, reportedly encouraged by the political shift, called senior political and security officials, as well as three judges, to testify in July. However, he was still unable to issue an indictment over the summer. AP reported that he is working on an additional phase of his investigation, now some 1,200 pages long, and is aiming to release an indictment by the end of the year, citing judicial and security sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Grechushkin’s arrest gives new momentum to Lebanon’s long-stalled quest for justice. For Beirut, securing his testimony could shed light on how thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate ended up abandoned in its port for years, despite repeated warnings. For Sofia, the case is a test of judicial cooperation with Lebanon and of the credibility of Interpol mechanisms in politically sensitive cases.

As Lebanon marks five years since the catastrophe, the arrest in Bulgaria has revived the hopes of many families that the chain of negligence and complicity surrounding the blast may finally begin to unravel.

Caption: People and relatives of the victims of the 2020 Beirut Port blast carry portraits of their deceased relatives as they gather outside the Beirut port to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Beirut port explosion, in Beirut, Lebanon, 4 August 2025. LEPA/WAEL HAMZEH