Bulgaria summons Ukrainian ambassador after drone explodes on its territory
Bulgaria has summoned Kiev’s envoy to Sofia after a Ukrainian drone explodes on its territory.
The foreign ministry issued a statement saying a meeting was held between Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova-Chamova and the Ukrainian ambassador after the Bulgarian Defense Ministry reported that the drone was of the kind widely used by the Ukrainian military.
Bulgarian officials said the drone self-detonated about 1,000 meters from a compressor station linked to a gas pipeline near the Kardam border-crossing with Romania, and was possibly targeting a major Trans-Balkan gas pipeline on the border with Romania.
Kiev downplayed the drone attack, insisting that the Ukrainian military had not deliberately targeted the strategic gas pipeline.
Ukraine launches almost daily drone strikes, using domestically-developed systems. These Ukrainian drones flying into the airspace of allies and exploding in other countries have not been uncommon.
Georgiy Tykhyi, Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesman, claimed the drone attack on Bulgarian territory was unintentional.
“We are in close contact with the Bulgarian side to clarify the circumstances. We can say with certainty that the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not intentionally direct any assets toward Bulgaria.”
Tykhyi said Kiev would launch an investigation into the incident. He added that Kiev is fully ready to cooperate with Sofia to clarify the circumstances.
Bulgaria is a NATO member state.
The Trans-Balkan pipeline once carried Russian natural gas through Ukraine, Romania, and Bulgaria to Turkey and onward to southern Europe.
In recent years, it has been repurposed to move non-Russian gas, including Azerbaijani supplies and LNG routed through Greece, with extensions into Greece and North Macedonia.
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