PM Radev: Drone exploded in Bulgarian airspace

A drone entered Bulgarian airspace on the morning of August 8 and exploded 100 metres inside the country’s territory, south of the Romanian border, Prime Minister Roumen Radev said after an emergency meeting of the Cabinet security council.

The drone exploded 200 metres from the former Kardam checkpoint at the Bulgarian – Romanian border and 200 metres from a gas compressor station.

Radev said that the area had been cordoned off, no one had been injured and there was no damage to infrastructure.

He said that the drone had not been detected in Romanian or Bulgarian airspace.

“We have no information from the combined air operations centre in Torrejón either. Currently, measures have been taken in the area, we will establish the type of drone, as a result of what happened two weeks ago in Romania – three Shahed drones were shot down and we reacted immediately,” Radev said.

“Noise from this drone was registered by the border police in Romania and then a loud explosion was heard from the border police unit. The location of the drone explosion was immediately identified, but teams from the Border Police and the Ministry of Defence are currently there, who are currently establishing the type of drone,” he said.

According to Radev, Bulgaria’s Defence Ministry had strengthened radar coverage and surveillance capabilities in this area.

Asked whether the drone was civilian or military, Radev said that he had photographs, but since it was damaged by the explosion, it was impossible to say what type of drone it was.

This is not a toy drone, but a larger drone, he said.

Radev said that such drones are difficult to detect due to their small size and when they fly at low altitude, such a density of coverage cannot be provided that would guarantee the detection of low- flying air targets.

Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said that up to July 31, Bulgarian airspace was guarded according to the traditional system with MiG-29 aircraft and anti-aircraft missile systems.

“From 9am. on July 31, as a result of what is happening in Romania and the downed drones by the Romanian Air Force, we have intensified airspace surveillance, as well as security, by deploying additional forces and assets,” Stoyanov said.

This strengthened security of Bulgarian airspace involved anti-aircraft missile system, Cougar helicopters and Su-25 aircraft, he said.

Additional radar stations have also been deployed at the relevant radar posts, Stoyanov said.

Radev said that next week there will be a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, where Poland will provide information about ballistic missiles, Romania will provide information about drones shot down on its territory.

He said that Bulgaria also will provide information and raise the question of the drone that exploded on Bulgarian territory.

“One thing is certain – the drone had a solid amount of explosion to be heard at a distance and to raise this black smoke,” he said.

Over recent months, there have been several statements from Bulgaria’s Defence Ministry about drones found on the country’s seashore or spotted in Bulgarian waters. Depending on tactical analysis on the spot, the drones either have been destroyed by Navy specialists or removed to a naval base.

None of these statements by the Bulgarian Defence Ministry have identified the country that the drones flew from, in contrast to the recent statement by Romanian Ministry of National Defence that identified the drones that had intruded on its territory as Russian.