A Bulgarian navy team on Monday defused an explosive drone the first ever found on its territory after it appeared near a Black Sea town, the defence ministry said.
A team of military specialists was dispatched to the coastal town of Tyulenovo after a hotelier reported on Sunday that a big drone-like object appeared to be stuck in the coastal cliffs.
“On inspection, a 82-mm mortar shell was found to be attached to the remains of a drone,” the ministry said in a statement.
Since the state of the mortar meant it could not be moved, the team defused it with a controlled on-site explosion, it added.
“We can certainly assume that it (the drone) is linked to the war that Russia launched against Ukraine,” Defence Minister Todor Tagarev told journalists.
“This war is inevitably associated with increasing risks for our security,” he added.
Since the start of the war in February 2022, Bulgaria’s navy has defused four mines in its territorial waters. This was the first discovery of a drone-mounted explosive in the country.
