Bulgaria: Drone with large explosive payload explodes near border gas pipeline

Published Aug 8, 11:16 AM UTC

A drone carrying a significant amount of explosives entered Bulgarian airspace on Saturday and exploded near the Kardam border crossing with Romania, approximately 1,000 meters from the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline's compressor station. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev confirmed the incident, stating the drone caused no casualties but carried a 'significant' explosive payload. The Bulgarian defense ministry later identified the drone as a type 'widely used by the Ukrainian military,' though it noted nothing currently suggests the incident was deliberate. The drone was not detected by either Bulgaria or Romania's air defense systems. The Trans-Balkan pipeline links Turkey to Ukraine. The incident adds to a pattern of increasing drone incursions in Eastern European NATO member states supporting Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.