Former defence minister: Bulgaria’s government deliberately hid and delayed information about the drone

There were delays and discrepancies in the information provided by the Bulgarian government about the drone that fell on Bulgarian territory on August 8, former defence minister Todor Tagarev told bTV on August 11.

Tagarev said that the four hours, from the time the drone incident occurred on August 8 until the news conference by Prime Minister Roumen Radev and Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov, were completely sufficient for photos to be obtained and this photo material to be presented.

Instead, we are witness to a simple inexplicable discrepancy, Tagarev said.

“The Prime Minister says: the drone was not small, it was not a toy, it was a large drone, there was an explosion,” he said.

“Last night or yesterday morning, the Defence Minister says: ‘I guess there was no explosion’.”

“The other thing that is inexplicable to me is that the Defence Minister says: ‘We will wait for specialists from the Interior Ministry to come and say if there was an explosion’.”

Tagarev said that there was concealment of information in the drone case.

“We don’t see the rest of the things, but specifically selected photos – one shows a number, the other shows the propeller, and the third one still doesn’t make it clear to me what exactly is visible, instead of showing what they have,” he said.

According to him, the case was once again used ideologically.

“A drone invaded our airspace and exploded,” Tagarev quoted Radev as saying/

“it was as if two squadrons of bombers were about to attack us. That’s how this drone was presented,” Tagarev said.

Radev tried to shift some of the responsibility to Bulgaria’s allies, he said.

He did not say anything specifically and did not show any materials, but said that “but they and the Romanians saw it.”

This was immediately picked up by groups on social networks, which in turn reinforced this thesis and said: “It passed through all of Romania and the Romanians saw it.” There was no basis for this claim, Tagarev said.

According to him, the government could have provided much more information on August 8.

There is almost no doubt that the drone is Ukrainian, he said.

‘The question is why it fell on our territory,” Tagarev said.

“Whether as a result of Russian influence on the drone, because there is also this version, or it was brought down by the Russians, because such drones are used by the hundreds, several of them simply fall to the ground, can be recovered and then used,” he said.

“The most likely option is still that this is really a Ukrainian drone under the influence of Russian electromagnetic influence. It made a mistake in its trajectory. It went on the wrong trajectory. And in the end it fell on our territory. But other versions cannot be ruled out either – in the version of provocation.” Tagarev said.

He said that a decoy drone is made precisely to imitate a much larger target.

“They put some special reflectors there to make it look like a large drone or even a cruise missile on radar. And the Defence Minister said yesterday that they didn’t see it because it was very small . This is a very clear logical contradiction in the two statements for the experts,” Tagarev said.

He said that Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova should not have summoned the Ukrainian ambassador Olesya Ilaschuk for a private conversation, but now she should have done so with the Russian ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova.

“In any case, the actions regarding the drone are not Ukrainian, but Russian,” Tagarev said.

He warned that a further incursion of drones into Bulgaria can be expected in the future.

Tagarev criticised both the government and President Iliana Yotova for rushing to purchase anti-drone systems, and said that this seemed like “let’s give some money to our companies”.