Don't Assume the War Will Bypass Us – Bulgarian Defence Minister on Drone Found in Bulgaria

Bulgarian Defence Minister Todor Tagarev has linked a drone carrying explosives that was found in the Black Sea resort of Tyulenovo to the war in Ukraine.

Tagarev said in a comment to Nova TV it is safe to assume that the drone is connected to the war that Russia is waging against Ukraine.

"We have no reason to think that this war will somehow bypass us. Yes, there are risks for Bulgaria," he said.

He explained that this was not an isolated incident and stressed that an investigation into how the drone ended up in Bulgaria is ongoing, adding that such events happen every week or even more than once a week.

"The Bulgarian army maintains assets and personnel in order to be able to respond to the discovery of unexploded ordnance. As I said, it [the drone – ed.] was not detected by radar stations, so we don't know when and how it ended up there, whether it fell into the water or arrived some other way," Tagarev added.

On Monday afternoon, a specialised group from the Bulgarian Navy disposed of an unexploded projectile found in the resort town of Tyulenovo on the Black Sea among the wreckage of a drone of unknown origin.

On 18 September, it was reported that a drone carrying explosives had been found in a Bulgarian Black Sea town. The Ministry of Defence sent a special unit to examine the device and disarm it. 

There were several incidents in Romania last week when debris similar to drone pieces were found in the border areas, but the authorities did not immediately admit that drones had crashed on their territory. The Romanian Ministry of Defence stated that Russian drones do not pose a threat to Romania.