Russian diplomat expelled from Bulgaria in 2021 amid investigation into arms depot explosions now serves as assistant military attaché in Serbia, RFE/RL finds

RFE/RL’s Balkan Service and the investigative project Sistema have identified a diplomat at the Russian Embassy in Serbia who was declared persona non grata in Bulgaria in 2021 during an investigation into explosions at weapons depots.

Alexander Krasiy, an assistant military attaché, held the same position at the Russian Embassy in Bulgaria before moving to Serbia. In April 2021, Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry said it was expelling a Russian diplomat but did not name him. The news agency Zona News and Bulgarian National Television identified him as Krasiy.

The decision came amid an investigation into explosions at four weapons depots and production facilities between 2011 and 2020. Bulgarian prosecutors suspected six Russians of involvement. According to prosecutors, the explosions may have been linked to the attempted poisoning of Bulgarian arms dealer Emilian Gebrev and were intended to “halt deliveries of military supplies to Georgia and Ukraine.”

After his expulsion, Krasiy resurfaced in Serbia. In 2021, he was photographed among instructors and participants in a professional development course at the University of Defense in Belgrade. He received accreditation as an assistant military attaché in 2026.

The journalists said Krasiy may have ties to Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU. Leaked records show that when he applied for a “COVID pass” during the pandemic, he listed his home address as a dormitory at the “Conservatory” — a nickname for the GRU’s Military Diplomatic Academy. Many graduates went on to become Russian intelligence officers and saboteurs, including Anatoly Chepiga.

According to The Telegraph, Russian intelligence services used Serbia as a base to prepare an unsuccessful sabotage attempt at Leipzig Airport in August 2026. The suspected organizer, Oleg Levushkin, left Europe through Serbia, while his accomplice, Maxim Lapunov, entered Europe through Belgrade. Investigators believe the explosives intended to blow up a Ukrainian aircraft may also have reached Germany through Serbia.

In September 2026, Agentstvo included Krasiy on a list of 29 Russian Embassy employees in Serbia with confirmed or possible ties to intelligence services. The outlet said Russia’s embassy and trade mission in Serbia employ a total of 78 people, while just 18 Russian diplomats work in neighboring Bulgaria, which has a comparable population.

Krasiy is not the first Russian diplomat to continue working in Serbia after being expelled from the EU. In 2023, RFE/RL found that at least three Russian diplomats expelled from the EU after the start of the war had received accreditation in Serbia. Two of them were found to have ties to Russian intelligence services.