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As the country approaches its sixth parliamentary elections in three years, two perennial and pervasive issues remain: corruption and the malign influence of Russia.

In an interview with RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service, former Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov blamed the U.S.-sanctioned oligarch Delyan Peevski for the recent government collapse and said the influential politician was the " biggest evil in Bulgaria."

The National Assembly of Bulgaria has ratified an intergovernmental agreement between Sofia and Kyiv, which provides for the supply of 100 written off armoured personnel carriers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Bulgaria to Ukraine.

The Russian military launched fresh artillery attacks on civilian areas of nine regions of Ukraine on October 20, killing one person, wounding several more, and causing damage to civilian infrastructure that left many residents without electricity.

A Russian court will rule on October 20 on a request by prosecutors to place detained RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva into pre-trial custody after she was picked up earlier this week by police on charges of failing to register as a foreign agent.