A drone that entered Bulgarian airspace from the direction of Romania and exploded near the border has been identified as most likely a Maya decoy drone, a type widely used by the Ukrainian armed forces, according to an initial analysis by Bulgaria's Defense Ministry. Ukrainian authorities have denied intentionally directing any drone toward Bulgaria and said they would investigate the incident.
Further reading: Drone Breaches Bulgarian Airspace, Explodes Near Romanian Border
The drone exploded at around 8:10 a.m. on Saturday, about 100 meters inside Bulgarian territory near the former Kardam border checkpoint in the Dobrich region. It fell into a sunflower field close to the Bulgarian-Romanian border, roughly 200 meters from a Romanian compressor station and about 1,000 meters from Bulgaria's compressor station on the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline.
No one was injured and there was no damage to buildings, infrastructure or the surrounding agricultural land. The area was immediately cordoned off, while Border Police, National Police and Defense Ministry teams arrived to determine the type and circumstances of the drone.
The incident prompted Prime Minister Rumen Radev to convene an emergency meeting of the Security Council at the Council of Ministers. Radev said the drone had entered Bulgarian airspace from the Romanian direction and exploded shortly after crossing the border.
