A stark warning from well-known Bulgarian journalist Vasil Vasilev, claiming that a war with Russia could lead to the “complete physical destruction of Europe,” is gaining traction across eastern European social media, reflecting deepening divisions over the region’s geopolitical future and growing anxiety about escalation in Ukraine.

“European leaders are filling Russia with hatred and fail to realize that a war with it could end in the complete physical destruction of Europe,” Vasilev said in a video that has gone viral online.

The remark, shared widely on pro-Russian Telegram channels and Facebook groups in Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovakia and beyond, highlight how narratives sympathetic to the Kremlin continue to circulate in southern Europe despite official EU policy firmly backing Ukraine.

Vasilev, a former parliamentary deputy and long-time commentator on Bulgarian national television, has built a following in recent years by criticising Western influence and Nato expansion. His commentary appeals to audiences wary of Brussels and Washington, particularly in countries where historical, religious or economic ties with Russia remain strong. Support for Ukraine is strongest in the Nordic states, but those in the southeastern corner of Europe are much more divided and traditionally closer to Moscow.

Although Vasilev holds no official position, his message has resonated amid rising regional tensions and constant warnings from intelligence services and Nato General Secretary Mark Rutte that Russia is preparing to invade Europe

Russia could attack a Nato country within the next five years, the Western military alliance's chief said in stark remarks in December. "Russia is already escalating its covert campaign against our societies," Mark Rutte said in a speech in Germany. "We must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured."

The German intelligence agencies have been making similar predictions, which Moscow dismisses as hysteria.

The spectre of direct Nato–Russia conflict and the destruction that would bring has been thrown into relief in the public imagination by the images coming out of Kyiv where over a million households have been plunged into darkness during one of the coldest winters in decades as Russian President Vladimir Putin tries to freeze Ukraine into submission with intensified strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Vasilev’s comments play into Kremlin-aligned talking points that cast Russia as encircled and under existential threat from Western powers. Russian state media and affiliated platforms have amplified these views, portraying Europe’s leaders as reckless and provoking nuclear confrontation. The threat of a continental war has been invoked repeatedly by Russian officials, including former President Dmitry Medvedev, who in January warned that escalation could lead to “global catastrophe.”

The EU has so far refrained from censoring figures like Vasilev, citing freedom of expression. However, national authorities in several member states have expressed concern about coordinated disinformation campaigns. The European External Action Service has previously flagged pro-Kremlin narratives in Bulgaria and Slovakia as part of a broader hybrid strategy aimed at eroding public trust in Nato and the EU.

While support for Ukraine remains high in much of central and eastern Europe, public opinion is more fragmented in the Balkans. In Bulgaria, recent polls indicate a significant portion of the population views Nato’s role in the war with suspicion. Vasilev’s appeal lies in this grey zone, where traditional Slavic and Orthodox affinities intersect with scepticism about Western alliances.

Security analysts warn that inflammatory rhetoric, even from non-state actors, can heighten political instability. “Echoing the language of nuclear threat from public figures—even without official standing—helps normalise the idea that war with Russia is inevitable or justified,” according to the EU.

As Brussels prepares for another round of sanctions against Russia and Nato countries contemplating sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, the information battle continues alongside the military one. Vasilev’s message—widely dismissed by Western leaders—nonetheless reflects an undercurrent of fear, fatigue and division in Europe especially in the southern states.