Ukraine denies deliberate strike after drone crashes near Bulgarian pipeline

Nexus Europa Newsroom
Posted Aug 19, 2026, 01:00 PM UTC · In the digest of 2026-08-19-1300
Ukraine denies deliberate strike after drone crashes near Bulgarian pipeline
Photo: Le Monde

Ukraine has reiterated it did not deliberately target Bulgaria after a drone matching Ukrainian military models crashed near a gas pipeline.

Sofia and Kyiv are continuing their joint assessment after a drone crashed near a gas pipeline in northeastern Bulgaria over the weekend. Bulgaria's Ministry of Defense confirmed that the wreckage matches drone models commonly deployed by Ukrainian forces, though officials stressed there is no evidence of an intentional attack.

In response, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Georgiy Tykhy affirmed that Ukraine did not deliberately target Bulgarian territory and committed to a thorough investigation into the circumstances. Ukrainian authorities reiterated their active cooperation with Bulgarian counterparts to determine how the aircraft strayed off course. No infrastructure damage or casualties were reported following the incident.

Sources: Le Monde, Le Soir.

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