Bulgarian Court Upholds Arrest Of Russian, 2 Lithuanians Suspected Of Espionage - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th October, 2021) A district court in the Bulgarian city of Stara Zagora has upheld the arrest of one Russian citizen and two Lithuanians suspected of industrial espionage, national media reported.

Earlier this week, the Bulgarian interior ministry said that a 60-years old Russian and two Lithuanians who worked with innovative technologies at a military factory in Bulgaria were detained over the alleged transfer of confidential data. Foreigners were on unpaid leave until September 17, 2021, after which they did not return to work. The investigation was launched after the factory noticed the loss of the products and related confidential documents, which were of interest to Bulgarian and foreign competitors.

The Russian embassy in Sofia said it had not been notified about the detention of the Russian citizen.

The detained Russian is believed to be a world-renowned weapons scientist, member of the Russian academy of Sciences Sergey Zonenko, while the two others are his wife Olga and son Veniamin, who are citizens of Lithuania, the Monitor newspaper reported.

Zonenko has been in Bulgaria for eight years and was in charge of the cumulative ammunition department at the Arsenal plant.

His lawyer sought to change the measure of restraint to house arrest or a recognizance not to leave, but the suspects remained in custody so that they could not hide or destroy the evidence, the newspaper noted.