An unidentified drone exploded in northeastern Bulgaria on Saturday, around one kilometre from a compressor station on the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline. No casualties or damage to buildings or infrastructure were reported.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said the drone entered Bulgarian airspace from Romania before exploding near the former Kardam border checkpoint.
Authorities failed to detect drone
Radev said Romanian border police detected the sound of the drone, while a Bulgarian border patrol in General Toshevo later heard a loud explosion.
The site of the explosion was identified immediately, he said, adding that neither Bulgarian nor Romanian authorities had detected the aircraft while it travelled through their respective airspace.
Surveillance operations in the region will now be increased.
Investigation under way
Bulgarian authorities have opened an investigation to determine the type and origin of the drone.
Opposition lawmaker Ivaylo Mirchev said Kardam is a key point along the Vertical Gas Corridor, a strategic route carrying liquefied natural gas from Greece towards Southeastern and Central Europe.
The corridor connects Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova and Ukraine.
Drone incidents increase in Romania
The explosion follows three drone incursions in Romanian airspace over three days in late July. Romanian forces shot down all three aircraft, with officials identifying at least one as a Shahed-type drone used by Russian forces.
Romania and Bulgaria are both located on NATO’s eastern flank and border the Black Sea, where security concerns have intensified amid Russia’s war against Ukraine.
In May, an explosive-laden Russian drone struck an apartment building in the Romanian city of Galați, causing a rooftop fire and injuring two people.
A Ukrainian naval drone exploded in the Romanian port of Constanța the following month. Ukraine’s military said the aircraft had been diverted from its course by Russian electronic warfare interference.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the incidents as “a direct consequence of Russia’s war against Ukraine”.
Source: Euronews
