SOFIA -- Bulgaria’s Defense Ministry said on September 18 that drone wreckage was found on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast and that a special military unit has been sent to the site to investigate and to dispose of ammunition that was attached to the debris.
While the origin of the wreckage has yet to be confirmed, Defense Minister Todor Tagarev said that “it can be assumed that [the drone] is connected to the war that Russia started against Ukraine” and highlights the proximity of Bulgaria to the war.
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Tagarev did not give details on where the drone came from and how it reached Bulgarian territory, saying that he had only preliminary information.
This is the first time Bulgaria, a NATO member, has reported finding remains of a drone on its territory. Earlier in September, neighboring Romania reported three occasions in which elements of suspected drones were identified on its territory following Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian ports just across the border.
“We know that Russia is bombing Ukrainian ports, which are only a few hundred meters from the territory of Romania. There are cases of fallen remains of drones and other ammunitions on Romanian territory. We have no reason to think that this war will bypass us. Yes, there are risks for Bulgaria,” Tagarev said.
The debris was found on the Black Sea coast of the tourist resort of Tyulenovo, situated less than 30 kilometers south of the Romanian border and across the Black Sea from Crimea. The Defense Ministry published two photos appearing to show debris on rocks in the sea and ammunition attached to it.
The first reports about the suspected drone wreckage appeared late on September 17 when a Facebook user named Radoslav Rusev posted photos of it and reported that he had called the emergency services.
Local police said that a report about the suspected drone debris was received at 10 p.m. local time on September 17 and that the area around the wreckage was quickly cordoned off.
Bulgaria’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on September 18 that it had sent a special unit to inspect the suspected drone wreckage and an object resembling an explosive that was attached to it. Later, the ministry said that the object was an 82 mm mortar ammunition and that it was destroyed in a controlled explosion.
Earlier in September, Romania, also a member of NATO, reported three occasions in which elements of suspected drones were identified on its territory following Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian ports.
Romanian authorities condemned the cases as an “unacceptable breach of Romania's airspace,” while NATO said it had no information that they were caused by a deliberate Russian attack.
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The last such case was reported last week, when Romania’s Defense Ministry said that fragments that could have come from a drone were found near the towns of Nufarul and Victoria in Tulcea County -- an area of the Danube that forms a natural border between Romania and Ukraine.
The report followed a Russian drone attack on Ukrainian port infrastructure in Izmayil in the Odesa region.
The Bulgarian village of Tyulenovo is situated about 200 kilometers south of Izmayil.
Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine's grain-export infrastructure amid talks about the resumption of the Black Sea grain deal, which would allow unhindered exports of grain from Ukrainian ports. Russia quit the deal in July, a year after it was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.