The Ukrainian ambassador in Sofia was summoned to the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday to discuss the drone explosion that occurred near Kardam, at the Bulgaria-Romania border. This was confirmed by her representatives on Saturday for AFP.
Kyiv has stated it is in close contact with Bulgarian authorities to clarify the incident and denies any intention to target Bulgaria with a drone. Georgiy Tykhyi, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized that the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not deliberately direct any elements towards Bulgaria, attributing the incident to the ongoing war initiated by Russia.
On Monday afternoon, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev announced at a press conference that a drone crashed and exploded at 8:10 a.m. on Bulgarian territory, near the border with Romania, close to critical energy infrastructure.
Preliminary analyses suggest that the drone was likely a type of decoy drone known as “Maya,” as later confirmed by the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense, which also noted that there is currently no evidence indicating that this was a deliberate act.
The explosion did not result in any casualties, but the amount of explosives the drone was carrying was described as “significant” by Prime Minister Radev.
„The drone exploded in the immediate vicinity of the border crossing point with Romania at Kardam,” Radev stated in a video message, highlighting that it was “1,000 meters from the compressor station of the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline.”
Bulgaria Claims Drone Came from Romania
According to Bulgarian authorities, the drone crossed from Romania into Bulgaria without being detected by radar systems.
Bucharest also issued a statement, noting that the radar surveillance systems of the Ministry of National Defense had not detected any aerial vehicle crossing Romanian airspace into Bulgaria. The Ministry of Defense added, “No aerial targets indicating a possible trajectory towards Bulgarian territory were recorded prior to the explosion.”
