The Russian Ambassador to Sofia, Eleonora Mitrofanova, said that if she were a Bulgarian citizen, she would vote for the leader of the radical pro-Russian party Vazrazhdane, Kostadin Kostadinov, in violation of the Vienna Convention which lays down rules for diplomatic and state relations that Russia signed in 1986. In March 2022, Ukraine expelled Kostadinov from its territory and imposed a 10-year ban on him from entering Ukraine on reports that he was a Russian spy. According to her, Russian people “do not feel that a military operation is taking place