Bulgarians vote in a presidential election on Sunday, with President Iliana Iotova, 62, leading polls with an expected 41–47% of the vote; she opposes military aid to Ukraine and favours dialogue with Moscow. Her main challenger, Andrey Gyurov, a former caretaker prime minister backed by the pro-Western opposition, is polling at 28–31%, while Kostadin Kostadinov of the pro-Russian far-right Vazrazhdane party is third on 10–13%. If she wins the runoff set for November 1, Iotova would be the first woman ever elected president of the country of 6.4 million people. The vote comes as four vessels were struck off Bulgaria's coast this month, leaving 21 people missing, though the government says there is so far no evidence directly linking Moscow to the attacks.
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