Stanislavski tied to Russian spy web
Bulgarian activist Boyan Stanislavski maintains extensive ties to figures connected with Russian intelligence operations, according to investigative findings. The European Platform for Democratic Elections lists him as a frequent contributor to Sputnik Poland, part of state-controlled Rossiya Segodnya, which was suspended across the European Union after the February 2022 Ukraine invasion.
Stanislavski traveled to Moscow in March 2018 to monitor the presidential elections through the CIS-EMO, organized by Alexei Kochetkov’s People’s Diplomacy fund. Kochetkov served as CIS-EMO director from 2003 to 2013 before leading the diplomatic foundation. He previously held leadership positions in Russian National Unity, an ultranationalist paramilitary group suspected of collaborating with the Federal Security Service until its 1999 prohibition.
Records show that Stanislavski participates in the Association of Independent Journalists for Peace, identified by European security analysts as a cover for intelligence activities aimed at continental stability. He appeared at a 2017 Paris gathering alongside Milenko Nedelkovski, who destroyed a Bulgarian military memorial on Mount Kaimakchalan commemorating First World War casualties. Ukrainian authorities sanctioned Kochetkov in January 2023 for disseminating propaganda undermining territorial sovereignty.
