A drone exploded in Bulgaria on the morning of 8 August, according to the country’s Prime Minister, Rumen Radev. He said the incident took place near the border with Romania, from where the drone had flown into Bulgarian territory.
A gas compressor station is located 200 metres from the crash site on the Romanian side, whilst the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline runs approximately one kilometre away on Bulgarian territory.
“The area has been cordoned off, and units from the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defence are on site to determine the type of drone. This drone was not detected in either Romanian or Bulgarian airspace, and the detection and identification of drones remain a serious problem,” Radev wrote on Facebook.
Bulgarian Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov stated at a press conference that this was not an amateur drone and that, given the force of the explosion, it was carrying a significant quantity of explosives, according to ‘Nastoyashchee Vremya’ (a television and online network created by Radio Free Europe for a Russian-speaking audience).
No warning about this drone was received from NATO’s Joint Air Operations Centre in Spain, which monitors the airspace of Southern Europe, according to the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency.
Following this, Bulgaria announced the redeployment to the Romanian border of drone detection and suppression equipment, previously stationed on the border with Turkey, and stepped up security at strategic sites.
The gas infrastructure near Kardam connects the Bulgarian and Romanian networks. It forms part of a vertical gas corridor through which gas flows from Greece via Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova to Ukraine. This route is currently being expanded to accommodate non-Russian gas supplies, as reported by The Insider.
In recent months, Russian drones have systematically entered the airspace of NATO countries, including the Baltic states, Finland and Romania. In response, Romania announced the closure of the Russian Consulate-General in Constanța and the expulsion of the consul from the country. Russia has announced the closure of the Romanian consulate in St Petersburg.