A large unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, drone) breached northeastern Bulgaria and exploded. Local authorities said it may have been a decoy drone made in Ukraine and is under investigation.
According to BTA and other local outlets on the 8th, local time, Bulgaria Prime Minister Rumen Radev said that at about 8:10 a.m. that day, a drone entered near the Kardam checkpoint on the border with Romania, flew about 100 meters farther, and then exploded.
The drone was found to be carrying a considerable amount of explosives. The blast site was a sunflower field about 1 kilometer from the Transbalkan natural gas pipeline facility, and there were no casualties. The pipeline runs from Ukraine through Moldova, Romania, and Bulgaria to Türkiye and is also connected to Greece and North Macedonia.
According to Bulgarian authorities, the drone entered via Romania, but neither country detected it in advance. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Air Operations Center, which monitors Southern European airspace, was also reported to have had no related information.
The Ministry of National Defense said an analysis of the wreckage indicates it was likely a Ukrainian-made decoy drone called "Maya." This model is used to disrupt an opponent's air defenses by mimicking the signals of attack drones.
However, the Bulgarian government said there is currently no basis to conclude that the incident was a deliberate attack.