Unidentified drone explodes near major gas pipeline in Bulgaria

An unidentified drone exploded in Bulgaria on 8 August near the border with Romania.

Source: Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev at a press conference, as reported by European Pravda, citing Euronews

Details: Radev stated that the drone entered Bulgarian airspace from Romania and subsequently exploded one kilometre away from a compressor station on the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline, near the former Kardam border crossing between the two countries.

"Noise made by the drone was detected by Romanian border police, and a loud explosion was subsequently heard by the General Toshevo border police patrol," he said.

Radev added that the "location of the drone explosion was immediately identified" and confirmed there were no casualties or damage to buildings or infrastructure.

The prime minister noted that neither the Bulgarian nor the Romanian authorities had detected the drone as it flew through their airspace.

Surveillance measures in the region will now be stepped up, he said.

An investigation into the incident has been launched to establish the type of drone.

Background:

• On 26 July Romania deployed a fighter jet to down a drone violating its airspace for the third time in three days.
• The first combat use of aircraft over Romania to shoot down such a drone – subsequently confirmed to have been a Shahed-type UAV – took place on 24 July.
• This was preceded by numerous incidents in which Russian drones flew into Romanian airspace and crashed, primarily in border areas over the Danube during Russian attacks targeting Ukrainian ports.
• The most serious incident occurred at the end of May, when a Shahed reached the border city of Galați and struck the top floor of a residential building, causing significant damage.

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