Todor Zhivkov to 1988, Bulgaria won an unprecedented 153 Olympic medals and numerous European and world competitions in sports as diverse as volleyball, rhythmic gymnastics and wrestling. Dissent was punished under Zhivkov's rule. The CSS was a feared tool of control, and overt opposition largely stayed underground until the late 1980s. In 1978, the Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was assassinated in London by an agent who stabbed him with an umbrella tip which implanted a very small ricin ball. According to former KGB general Oleg Kalugin, this was requested by Zhivkov and either performed by the KGB or it assisted the CSS;
1978 Balkan Bulgarian Tupolev Tu-134 crash or if the aircraft was under control at the moment of impact. 1978 Balkan Bulgarian Tupolev Tu-134 crash The 1978 Balkan Bulgarian Tupolev Tu-134 crash was an accident that occurred on 16 March 1978, when a Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Tupolev Tu-134 airliner on an international flight from Sofia, Bulgaria, to Warsaw Airport, Poland crashed. On departure from Sofia, the aircraft was climbing to , but at it turned on a heading of 050. It turned again to 270 then began an abnormal descent. The aircraft crashed near the village of Gabare, 130 km northeast of Sofia. All 73 on board