Conflict & Security
Bulgaria drone blast: Ukraine denies targeting country
Ukraine has denied intentionally targeting Bulgaria after an explosives-laden drone exploded near the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline close to the Romanian border.
Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhyi said Kyiv was in contact with Bulgarian authorities to clarify the circumstances. “We can say with certainty that the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not intentionally direct any assets toward Bulgaria,” he said, blaming Russia's invasion for the incident.
Bulgaria's foreign minister summoned the Ukrainian ambassador for a meeting on Monday after the blast. Bulgaria's defence ministry said the drone was of a type widely used by Ukraine's military, but also said its analysis so far found nothing to suggest the incident was deliberate.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said there were no casualties. He said the drone exploded near the Kardam border crossing in northeastern Bulgaria, about 1,000 metres from a compressor station on the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline, which links Turkey to Ukraine.
Radev said Romanian border police recorded the sound of the drone before a Bulgarian border police patrol saw a loud explosion and black smoke. He said the drone later crashed in a sunflower field and had not been detected by Bulgaria or Romania before the blast.
Radev said the aircraft was carrying a significant amount of explosives. After an extraordinary cabinet security council meeting, he said Bulgaria had increased surveillance and would redeploy troops to border areas to detect drones and use anti-drone measures.
Drone incidents have become more frequent in eastern European NATO countries during Russia's war in Ukraine. Romania has reported repeated drone incursions since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, including crashes on its territory.
Update
Ukraine's foreign ministry said Ukrainian forces did not intentionally direct any assets toward Bulgaria.
Ukraine said it was in contact with Bulgaria to clarify the circumstances.
Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhyi blamed Russia's invasion for the incident.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 August 2026 at 17:08:03 UTC.
Update
Aides said the summoned Ukrainian ambassador's meeting with Bulgaria's foreign minister will take place on Monday.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 August 2026 at 16:48:38 UTC.
Update
Ukraine said its armed forces did not intentionally direct any assets toward Bulgaria.
Ukraine said it was in close contact with Bulgaria to clarify the circumstances of the drone crash.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 August 2026 at 16:48:44 UTC.
Update
Bulgaria summoned the Ukrainian ambassador over the crashed drone, according to an official.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 August 2026 at 16:35:31 UTC.
Update
Ukraine said it did not intentionally target Bulgaria after the drone crash.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 August 2026 at 16:38:31 UTC.
Update
Bulgaria's defence ministry said preliminary analysis found nothing suggesting the drone incident was deliberate.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 August 2026 at 14:48:00 UTC.
Update
Bulgaria's defence ministry said the drone that exploded in Bulgaria was of a type widely used by Ukraine's military.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 August 2026 at 14:37:02 UTC.
Update
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said Bulgaria had boosted surveillance after the drone incident.
Radev said Bulgaria would redeploy troops to border areas to detect drones and use anti-drone measures.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 August 2026 at 12:11:05 UTC.
Update
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said authorities did not yet know where the drone came from or what type it was.
Radev said the drone was carrying a significant amount of explosives and was not a hobby drone.
Romanian border police recorded the drone sound, and a Bulgarian border police patrol saw a loud explosion with black smoke, according to Radev.
Radev said the drone was not detected by either Bulgaria or Romania before the explosion.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 August 2026 at 10:58:34 UTC.
Update
The later wording says the drone entered Bulgaria and exploded near the Kardam crossing at the Romanian border, without stating its origin.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 August 2026 at 10:29:11 UTC.
Update
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev named the Kardam border crossing with Romania as the area of the explosion.
Radev said the drone exploded about 1,000 metres from a Trans-Balkan gas pipeline compressor station.
Radev said there were no casualties.
The Trans-Balkan gas pipeline links Turkey to Ukraine.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 August 2026 at 10:08:14 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
Bulgarian authorities have not established where the drone came from.
The circumstances of the incident remain under clarification between Ukraine and Bulgaria.
Source
AFP news report published on .