Drone with explosives entered Bulgarian airspace around 08:10 on Saturday, 8th August 2026. According to the initial reports the drone has self-exploded, with no damage or casualties were reported.
The incident took place near the Romanian border and close to the key infrastructure of the Transbalkan gas pipeline.
During the formal announcement the Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev didn’t say where the drone might be coming from – only that the incident was being investigated.
According to him, the authorities were working to establish the type of the drone. Meanwhile, he mentioned an incident in Romania recently that involved three Shahed-type drones. (Shahed drones are manufactured in Iran and Russia.)
This caused concerns amongst Bulgarians, since there has been a lot of tension in the country since Radev and his government allowed US planes involved in the fights in the Middle East to use a Bulgarian military air base. People living in in the area surrounding the air case expressed concerns that the country could become a target for Iranian attacks.
At the same, this announcement for the drone explosion was made while the reports of Russian drones entering the airspace of NATO countries, such as Poland and Romania, were piling up.
Later the same day the Defence Ministry of Bulgaria issued a formal position regarding the drone, stating the following: “The initial analysis of the remains [of the drone] shows that it most probably is a decoy drone “Maya”. This type of drones are widely used by the Ukrainian armed forces. So far, there is no reason to think that the incident was intentional.”
Even though the statement from MOD didn’t specifically said that the drone came from Ukraine, one of the national TV stations in Bulgaria – BTV posted its video report about the incident with the title: “Ukrainian decoy drone Maya exploded in the Bulgarian airspace.”
Putting the Ministry of Defence statement in perspective:
Although they literally stated that: “it most probably is a decoy drone “Maya”. This type of drones are widely used by the Ukrainian armed forces”, it was immediately interpreted as that a Ukrainian drone has exploded over Bulgaria.
This initial position by the Defence Ministry will in doubt be used by PM Radev and his government to further cement their pro-Kremlin foreign policy course. It will be used as an excuse not to support Ukraine in the future.
The statement by MOD will strengthen the backing Radev is receiving from Bulgarians, who support the Putin regime and the incident will be used to bring further divide amongst the population. Furthermore, this will help escalate the hostile moods aganist Ukraine and their efforts in the war.
Considering the strong Russian influence in Bulgaria, this incident will be used as another way to portray Ukraine as the aggressor and Russia as the protectior, who “saved Bulgaria from Ottoman slavery”. This fits perfectly with the lines of Kremlin propaganda often spread by Radev, his ministers and MPs.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs quickly came out to say that it is cooperating with the Bulgarian authorities to clarify the circumstances surrounding the drone that exploded in the country’s airspace.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Georgiy Tykhyi stated:
“We can say with certainty that the Defence Forces of Ukraine did not deliberately direct any assets towards Bulgaria. We are currently establishing all the circumstances surrounding the incident and all the technical facts.”
It is important to note that Ukraine receives gas through the Transbalkan gas pipeline which means that interruptions in the transportation of gas could have negative impact on the country.
The Ukrainian ambassador in Sofia (Olesya Ilashchuk) was summoned for meeting with the Bulgarian Foreign Minister – Velislava Chamova on Monday, 10th August 2026.
On 11th August Dimitar Stoyanov – the Bulgarian minister of defence, told journalists that the authorities in Bulgaria have sent the serial number of the drone to Ukraine and are expecting a response. They are seeking confirmation if the drone actually came from Ukraine.
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