Bulgarian website caught turbo-spreading propaganda from Russia-sanctioned media

A recent investigation by the Atlantic Council of Bulgaria has revealed what it calls an “institutionalized operation of hostile propaganda” funnelling thousands of articles from Kremlin-sanctioned media outlets into the Bulgarian information space.

The organisation has submitted its findings to Bulgaria’s national security services and prosecution authorities, urging immediate action.

According to the Council’s report, the Bulgarian news aggregator Pogled.info has republished nearly 36,000 articles from Russian and pro-Kremlin media outlets over a period of just over four years – an average of more than 15 articles per day.

Of these, 23,432 publications were direct translations from Russian media entities currently under EU sanctions, including RIA Novosti, RT (Russia Today), Sputnik, TASS, Tsargrad TV, and others.

The report highlights that Pogled.info has effectively become a primary vector for distributing sanctioned content, undermining the European Union’s media sanctions regime.

The Atlantic Council warns that such a vast and systematic dissemination of Russian state-sponsored content is not only a violation of EU regulations, but also in potential breach of Bulgaria’s Penal Code, which prohibits aiding foreign powers against the Bulgarian state.

“This is a clear-cut example of a hybrid information attack,” said Genady Vorobyov, co-author of the report and founder of the media monitoring initiative Bessarabian Front. “When a Bulgarian media outlet, legally operating under national jurisdiction, distributes tens of thousands of propaganda articles from sanctioned Russian sources, it is not merely a case of bad journalism – it is a structural security threat.”

Vorobyov’s team analysed nearly 50,000 articles from Pogled.info between January 2021 and April 2025, finding that 72% originated from Russian or pro-Russian sources.

These findings were supported by Ivaylo Mirchev, MP and co-chair of the “Yes, Bulgaria” party, who has announced plans to submit a formal complaint and a parliamentary question regarding the platform’s activities.

“Nearly 36,000 articles were republished from Russian and pro-Russian outlets under EU sanctions. This is an absolutely unacceptable and deliberate participation in a hybrid operation against the Bulgarian state, civil society, and our European identity,” said Mirchev.

He added that he will be filing an official signal to the competent institutions and submitting a parliamentary question to urge further action.

The Atlantic Council’s report warns that the presence of a domestically registered platform openly violating EU restrictions “poisons the public discourse with misleading, hostile, and anti-democratic narratives that serve the Kremlin’s strategic objectives in the Balkans.”

Among the most prolific sources of republished content are Vzglyad (6598 articles), RIA Novosti (5120), Tsargrad TV (5034), Foundation for Strategic Culture (4837), TASS (810), RT/Russia Today (669), Sputnik (364).

The Atlantic Council has officially alerted Bulgaria’s State Agency for National Security (SANS), the Prosecutor General’s Office, and the Communications Regulation Commission, calling for an immediate investigation into Pogled.info’s activities.

“The scale and continuity of these publications suggest not an isolated lapse but an orchestrated, long-term effort to infiltrate and destabilize Bulgaria’s democratic discourse,” the Council wrote in its submission.

Mirchev echoed these concerns, stating that the case reflects “a deliberate and malevolent involvement in a hybrid operation against the Bulgarian state, civil society, and European identity.”

The report also highlights broader societal vulnerabilities. Vorobyov points out that following algorithmic changes on platforms like Facebook, exposure to political content of dubious origin has increased significantly, especially among younger users.

“There are two key tools to counter Putinophilia in Bulgaria: critical thinking and media literacy,” Vorobyov argues. He also promotes the use of artificial intelligence tools to detect and flag manipulative content.

Rumen Petkov, editor-in-chief of Pogled.info, rejected the accusations and defended the site’s operations in an article.

“Pogled Info is a Bulgarian media outlet with no affiliation to sanctioned foreign entities. It has never received funding from sanctioned sources, and any republished foreign content is presented in Bulgarian only, with editorial adaptation and analysis. The media always reserves the right to disagree with the views expressed by any source – foreign or domestic – and publishes a variety of perspectives out of commitment to freedom of speech and opinion pluralism”, Petkov said. He was also a parliamentary candidate for the pro-Russian “The Left” in the April 2023 elections.

Petkov further argued that EU regulations do not prohibit individual journalistic references, citations, or analysis, provided there are no financial, contractual, or corporate links with sanctioned entities, none of which, he insisted, exist in this case.

Addressing calls for criminal investigation under Article 105 of the Bulgarian Penal Code, Petkov responded:

“This article targets those who act with the intent to assist a foreign state in activities against Bulgaria. For criminal liability to apply, direct intent (dolus directus) must be proven, meaning a specific aim to harm national security. No such intention has ever been expressed, logically inferred, or supported by any evidence in the case of Pogled.info.”

The Bulgarian media regulator has constantly kept its eyes wide shut on Russian propaganda, under the excuse that “alternative opinions” should not be banned.

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