Ukraine pledges investigation after drone explosion incident in Bulgaria

Ukraine confirmed on Saturday that it "did not intentionally" target Bulgaria, pledging to conduct an investigation, following the explosion of a drone model used by the Ukrainian military near a gas pipeline in the country.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson, Georgy Tikhii, told journalists, "We are in close contact with the Bulgarian side to clarify the circumstances. We can confidently confirm that the Ukrainian military did not intentionally direct any (drone) toward Bulgaria," but stopped short of officially confirming the drone was Ukrainian.

The spokesperson added that Kyiv is investigating the incident and is "fully prepared" to cooperate with Sofia.

He continued, "It is important to remember that the primary cause of all such incidents is the war Russia has been waging against Ukraine for the past five years," stressing the importance of ending the conflict for "regional security," as he put it.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Plevneliev earlier announced that a drone "carrying a large amount of explosives" entered Bulgaria on Saturday morning and exploded near the border with Romania and a gas pipeline, without causing casualties.

Bulgarian defense ministry later stated that the drone in question was a Mayya decoy drone "widely used by the Ukrainian armed forces."

Drone incursions have become common in Romania, where one crash into a residential building in May caused two injuries. However, this marks the first such incident in neighboring Bulgaria, both countries being members of NATO.

Following the incident, Bulgaria's foreign ministry announced it had summoned Ukraine's ambassador in Sofia.