"Bulgaria will arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if for some reason he ends up in our country", announced Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev in an interview with the Faktor.bg.

"Bulgaria, like all countries that are parties to the ICC Statute, has an immediate obligation to detain Vladimir Putin, if he is located on its territory, and to hand him over to the International Criminal Court. So on this point, it is categorical it is clear what the Bulgarian reaction should be," says Geshev.

On March 17, the ICC in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin, who is considered responsible for war crimes committed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The order obligates countries to which he travels to arrest him if they are parties to the court's statute.

It is understood from Geshev's words that yesterday he visited the Ukrainian cities of Bucha and Borodyanka.

"You have to see the collapsed apartment blocks and the killed civilians to realize that we cannot allow the return to the darkest times of human history to continue," accuser #1 points out.

And he says again that "circles that are conductors of malicious Russian influence in our country attack the state prosecution and me in particular on a daily basis for reasons beyond the law".

Geshev's visit to Ukraine became known on Thursday. Yesterday, the state prosecution announced that in Kyiv he and his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Kostin signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation. According to the announcement of the prosecutor's office, the two sides agreed "on active cooperation in the investigation of crimes related to Russian aggression in Ukraine, in particular crimes against humanity, war crimes, crimes of aggression and genocide."

"Ivan Geshev and Andriy Kostin also discussed the creation of joint teams to investigate war crimes. The Prosecutor General of Ukraine stated that since the beginning of the war, over 80 thousand cases of war crimes, aggression and genocide against the Ukrainian people have been registered, including over 10 thousand are against civilians, women and children. Charges have been brought against 152 people and 32 have been convicted," the prosecutor's office also reported.

In addition, Geshev introduced his colleague to the active role of the Bulgarian prosecutor's office in countering the Russian military and intelligence services in Bulgaria and the Balkans. According to him, the explosive environment in the region makes the countries even more vulnerable and susceptible to malicious Russian influence, the state prosecution added.

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