Russians (Bulgarian: руснаци, rusnatsi) form the fourth largest ethnic group in Bulgaria, numbering 31,679 in 2019,[2] and mostly living in the large urban centres, such as Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas.

[4] Another Russian-inhabited village in the northeast of Bulgaria is Kazashko in Varna Province, where descendants of Kuban and Don Cossacks have been living since 1905.

[5] The members of these Old Believer communities are locally known as Lipovans (липованци, lipovantsi)[5] and belong to a group also inhabiting Romania and Ukraine.

[6] Following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, largely fought on what is today Bulgarian territory, and the Liberation of Bulgaria to which it led in 1878, a transitional Russian administration was established with Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Dondukov-Korsakov as its head.

[9] Today, foreign (including Russian) businessmen living in Bulgaria are eligible for Bulgarian passport under specific conditions (such as investing over $250,000 or running a business, and having a clean slate).