Ukraine Denies Targeting Bulgaria After Drone Explodes 109 Yards Inside Border Near Gas Pipeline
Updated
Updated · CBS New York · Aug 9
Ukraine Denies Targeting Bulgaria After Drone Explodes 109 Yards Inside Border Near Gas Pipeline
3 articles · Updated · CBS New York · Aug 9
Summary
Ukraine said it did not deliberately target Bulgaria after a drone crossed from Romania and exploded about 109 yards inside Bulgarian territory near the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline.
Bulgarian officials said the drone was likely the type used by Ukrainian forces and probably veered off course; there were no casualties or damage despite what authorities described as a significant explosive load.
Prime Minister Rumen Radev said neither Romanian nor Bulgarian air defenses detected the low-flying drone before it exploded roughly 200 meters from a Romanian compressor station and 0.6 miles from Bulgaria's.
Bulgaria and Ukraine are in close contact to establish what happened, while Sofia plans to shift anti-drone detection units from its Turkish border to the Romanian frontier and tighten surveillance.
The incident adds to a run of drones straying into NATO and neighboring airspace since Russia's invasion, including a June shootdown over Latvia and separate crashes reported in Romania, Moldova, Estonia and Lithuania.