Sofia (Bulgaria): An unknown drone entered the Bulgarian airspace on Saturday causing an explosion near an international gas pipeline. It is said to have entered after crossing the Romanian border. So far no damage has been reported.
Drones straying into NATO airspace have not been uncommon since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
At first, it was unclear where the drone had originated or whether it was linked to Russia or Ukraine, but the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence later said that an “initial analysis of the wreckage indicates that it is most likely a 'Maya' decoy drone. This type of drone is widely used by the Ukrainian armed forces.”
The ministry in Sofia, Bulgaria's capital, also said there were indications the drone was the kind used by Ukrainian armed forces and that the incident was likely accidental. Bulgaria and Romania are both members of NATO and the European Union.
A Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson said the Ukrainian military was looking into the incident but that it did not deliberately target Bulgaria. Heorhii Tykhyi said on Saturday that Ukraine and Bulgaria were in “close contact” to establish the circumstances of the incident.
Bulgaria's Prime Minister Rumen Radev said the drone exploded just after 5 a.m. about 100 metres (109 yards) inside Bulgarian territory. It was not detected or identified while flying through either Romanian or Bulgarian airspace.
“There are no casualties or damage to buildings. The area has been cordoned off. We continue to monitor the situation,” Radev said following a government emergency meeting.
Radev said the unmanned aerial vehicle exploded around 200 metres (218 yards) from a Romanian compressor station, and about 1 kilometre (0.6 miles) from Bulgaria's compressor station on the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and strengthen surveillance. Following this incident, we will also redeploy border police anti-drone detection and countermeasure capabilities from the border with Turkey to the border with Romania,” Radev said.
The incident would be raised at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council early next week, Bulgaria's Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said.
The drone was appearing to have carried a large amount of explosives, considering the intensity of the blast as such small drones are hard to detect in the radar, added Stoyanov.
