Ksenia Eliseeva, a Russian activist against Vladimir Putin’s regime, has spoken out after being denied asylum in Bulgaria by the Supreme Administrative Court in Sofia.

The May 8 ruling was issued after Eliseeva appealed against a previous rejection decision of the State Agency for Refugees in 2023. 

Eliseeva said that, along with her legal team, she will continue her efforts to obtain asylum in Bulgaria. She arrived in Sofia in October 2022.

“I attended protests in Russia, mostly organised by [dissident activist Alexei] Navalny’s team,” Eliseeva told BIRN. Navalny died in a Russian prison in 2024.

“But there were also more general ones, for example, for allowing independent candidates to participate in elections in 2019. The last major demonstration I was at was carried out right after Navalny’s poisoning, when he was put in prison. After that, I realised it was becoming more and more dangerous to be in the country, and I looked for options to leave.”

Born in 1997 in Rostov-on-Don, she left Russia in 2021 for Poland, before settling in Bulgaria in October 2022. “It was clear to me already back then that the country [Russia] was preparing for war,” Eliseeva posted on her Facebook page.

“Troops began massing around my home region on the border with Ukraine. I was actively speaking out against Putin’s regime, taking part in actions in support of Alexei Navalny and against political repression.

“After the war began, everything became even more frightening. In Russia, they imprison people for eight years for anti-war leaflets, take children away from parents if they publicly demand for peace, torture and kill activists without trial in custody. And every month, every day, the situation gets worse,” she said.

Eliseeva has taken part in demonstrations with other opposition-minded Russians in Sofia. But she said a judge challenged her version of events and protest activity, remarking: “You’re no Navalny.”

The court decision upholding her rejectiontakes into account the repressive nature of the “official political line” in Russia.

But it also claims Eliseeva faces little danger there, since any material she has posted online against the regime, or public activities she has taken part in, have not reached Russian society because social media like YouTube, Facebook or Instagram are blocked there – and she has not been active on more visible social media in Russia, like VKontakte.

“There is no way that they [the posts] can be perceived by the applicant’s fellow citizens, by the general public in Russia, so that a sanction for their expression can follow,” said the court statement. 

“The ruling is both shocking and crushing for me,” Eliseeva said. 

History of questionable asylum verdicts

Eliseeva’s case comes after criticism of the handling of other asylum cases by the Bulgarian state.

Bulgaria isstill detaining the Saudi dissident and journalist Abdulrahman al-Khalidi despite a court order for his release; he has been held for three-and-a-half years in a closed-type unit. In 2024, he told BIRN that his request for asylum in Bulgaria had been rejected, noting many inaccuracies that had dogged his application, while authorities seemed convinced he was fleeing for economic rather than political reasons.

Similar stories mark other cases of Belarusian citizens seeking asylum. 

Last October,Belarusopposition activist Barys Barysau, now Sofia-based along with his wife and son, received a rejection note from the State Agency for Refugees. Documents seen by BIRN say there is no evidence that Barysau’s life would be in danger in Belarus since he was not arrested over the 2020 protests there. However, his wife was arrested in September 2020, and later fined. 

Before that, a Belarusian activist, known only by his first name, Andrey, whoalso engaged in activity against the Belarus regime, had his application rejected despite his husband, the Russian journalist and activist Alexei Bachinsky, being granted one. Among their concerns is that LGBTQ+ relationships can merit a prison sentence in Belarus and Russia. 

Barys and Andrey are still in Bulgaria. They have appealed the rejections and are awaiting progress over their status.

In January 2024, Iran-born musician Mehran Davari was detained over document issuesafter living in Bulgaria for 13 years, and who was previously involved in anti-regime protests in Tehran. After a public outcry, he was released, and granted asylum status last August. 

In 2022, Bulgarian authorities were criticised forinitiating the handover of Russian citizen Alexey Alchin, who had participated in pro-Ukraine protests in Varna. Alchin was also eventually released.