Drone Explodes 100 Meters from Bulgarian Border, Near Gas Pipeline

At 8:10 a.m., a drone entered Bulgarian airspace from the north and exploded roughly 100 meters from the border, already inside Bulgarian territory. The news was reported by the Bulgarian news agency BTA.

The incident took place near the former Kardam border crossing between Bulgaria and Romania, and about 1,000 meters from a Bulgarian compressor station on the route of the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline. This international pipeline links Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine, connecting the gas networks of southeastern Europe. Whether the station or the pipeline itself was the intended target remains unclear.

No casualties reported

"No one was hurt, and there is no material damage. The area has been cordoned off, and we continue to monitor the situation," said Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev, who convened a meeting of the Security Council in response to the incident.

According to him, Romanian border police first detected the sound of the drone, after which a powerful explosion was heard. The crash site was quickly located, and border police and defense ministry patrols are now working there to determine the type of drone involved.

Not picked up by radar

Radev noted that the drone was not detected by either Bulgarian or Romanian radar systems. "When flying at low altitude, it's impossible to ensure sufficiently dense radar coverage," the prime minister explained.

Asked whether this was a deliberate attack, he said it was too early to determine that. However, the drone was carrying enough explosives for the blast to be heard from a considerable distance.

"We will find out what type of drone this was, especially given what happened in Romania two weeks ago, when three drones were shot down," Radev added.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz