Defence minister: The drone found near Tyulenovo is probably a mine

The drone with bomb attached to it found last night near the coastal village of Tyulenovo is from the war in Ukraine and is probably a mine, Bulgaria’s Defence Minister Todor Tagarev said at a briefing today, September 18.

"I have preliminary information, which is not final, so I cannot yet say whose drone it is and where it came from. What can be assumed for sure is that it is related to Russia’s war on Ukraine," Tagarev said.

In his words, military actions certainly pose a risk to our country as well.

"This war is inevitably linked to an increase in risks to our security of various nature. We know that Russia is bombing Ukrainian ports that are only a few hundred metres from the territory of Romania. There have been cases of fragments of drones and other munitions falling on Romanian territory. We have no reason to think that this war will bypass us. Yes, there are risks for Bulgaria."

Bulgarian Navy team destroyed the drone with explosive attached found near coastal village of Tyulenovo

The fallen drone is destroyed in broad daylight to avoid risks for the team , the minister explained.

"These types of events are weekly. The Bulgarian army maintains capacities and teams that can respond to the detection of unexploded munition. This is exactly the case. The risk assessment determined that there was no need to act at night. As this would only lead to risk for the team acting on the case and we act in daylight," Tagarev said.

The minister confirmed that ammunition had been recovered and separated from the drone.

"The preliminary assessment is that it is a mine," the minister said.

Tagarev confirmed that there is interest from Ukraine in missiles that are not in fully functional condition.

"We are studying the issue of whether we can provide such missiles. It is definitely not about complexes," Tagarev said.