Ukrainian ambassador summoned after drone explodes near pipeline in Bulgaria

Incident comes after NATO warned that Russia could launch 'limited assault' on member country in coming years

Published Aug 09, 2026  •  2 minute read

A Bulgarian military police car is parked at an access to a farmland area where a drone that entered Bulgaria exploded, near the Kardam border-crossing between Bulgaria and Romania, on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. Ukraine denied targeting Bulgaria after a drone exploded close to the strategic Trans-Balkan gas pipeline linking Turkey to Ukraine near the Romanian border. Photo by MIHAIL IVANOV /AFP via Getty Images

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Drones were spotted in two NATO member countries over the last week, including one that exploded near a strategic oil pipeline on Saturday in Bulgaria, after reports surfaced that Russia could try to test the military alliance’s resolve in the near future.

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The incident in Bulgaria, which happened near the Romanian border on its Black Sea coast and about 1 km from the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline linking Ukraine with Turkey, saw officials there summon the Ukrainian ambassador for a meeting on Monday, according to AFP.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said the drone was carrying a “significant” amount of explosives before crashing into a sunflower field and Defence Ministry officials said it resembled ones “widely used by the Ukrainian military.”

Ukraine, for its part, denied targeting the pipeline and said it was in “close contact” with Bulgarian officials to discuss the situation, AFP reported.

“We can say with certainty that the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not intentionally direct any assets toward Bulgaria,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Georgiy Tykhyi said, while blaming Russia for the incident.

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Police investigators work on the tarmac with a robot capable of defusing explosives near a Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle Airport on Aug. 5, 2026, near Leipzig, Germany. Airport workers reportedly discovered a drone on the tarmac near an Antonov at the airport that was equipped with an explosives detonator and an unidentified substance. Additionally, a DHL cargo plane that took off from the airport collided with a small object, causing minor damage. Photo by Jens Schlueter /Getty Images

Drones spotted near German military installation

A Bulgarian Defence Ministry spokesperson said, via AFP, that there “currently” was nothing to suggest that the drone attack was deliberate.

It was the latest incident of drones being spotted or straying into NATO territory since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Drones have breached Romanian airspace dozens of times since then, CNN reported, while Poland’s airspace was violated by multiple Russian drones during an attack on Ukraine in September 2025, forcing NATO to scramble fighter jets to shoot them down.

Meanwhile, German officials told AFP on Saturday that they detected drones last week near a military installation near the western border with Belgium and that an explosive-laden drone was discovered near the Leipzig-Halle airport days before that.

The military installation — an underground depot in Mechernich, southwest of Cologne — reportedly houses parts for American-made Patriot air-defence missiles, which Ukraine has sought to defend against Russian attacks.

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Russia plotting a ‘limited assault?’

Those incidents came around the same time the Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials, reported that Russia could launch a “limited assault” on a NATO country in the next few years to test the military alliance’s unity.

“The assessments, described by U.S. officials, come amid a shortfall in certain critical munitions that the military would need to confront Russia or China in a potential future war,” the Journal’s report said.

The fighting between Ukraine and Russia has even affected shipping in the Black Sea with Turkey’s foreign minister calling for a “moratorium” on attacks by Russia and Ukraine after two civilian vessels were targeted in the strategic waterway.

“To begin with, they targeted the ports and the military ships,” Hakan Fidan told Turkish state news agency Anadolu, via AFP. “Now, they are attacking all commercial shipping without distinction.”

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