An unknown drone flew into Bulgaria and exploded near a gas pipeline near the Romanian border. This was stated by Prime Minister Rumen Radev, AP reports.
The incident occurred today shortly after five o'clock in the morning in the area of the General-Toshevo community. The drone fell and exploded in a sunflower field about 200 meters from the Romanian compressor station and 1 km from a similar Bulgarian one The Trans-Balkan gas pipeline. According to Radev, the drone was not detected or identified during the flight through the airspace of Romania or Bulgaria.
An emergency government meeting was convened in connection with the incident.
"There are no casualties, the buildings are not damaged. The area is cordoned off. We continue to monitor the situation and will intensify surveillance. After this incident, we will also redeploy the forces and resources of the border police to detect drones and conduct operations to counter them from the border with Turkey to the border with Romania," Radev said.
At the same time, it has not yet been established where the drone came from and whether it is connected with Russia or Ukraine.
"We have photos of this drone. Since it was damaged by the explosion, we can't say what type it is yet. It's not a toy. This is a larger drone. According to the border guards in the area, a loud explosion was heard, black smoke appeared, and it fell into a sunflower field," Radev said.
According to the head of the Bulgarian Defense Ministry, Dimitar Stoyanov, the drone, judging by the force of the explosion and the column of black smoke, carried a significant amount of explosives. Such drones are difficult to detect due to their small size and low altitude, the minister added.
The incident will be discussed at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council early next week. Also, surveillance of Bulgarian airspace has been strengthened with additional radar stations, anti-aircraft complexes, helicopters and airplanes.