The Bulgarian Parliament approved the shipment of anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine. The ammunition is defective and more than 30 years old, but Ukraine can use it as spare parts.
At the end of 2022, the United States offered Bulgaria a deal: Washington would cover new weapons purchases if Sofia provided Ukraine with its old Soviet anti-aircraft systems, including the S-300 and S-200.
However, the agreement then fell through. Both the country’s President Rumen Radev and acting Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov opposed the transfer of military aid to Kyiv. They argued that this would weaken Bulgaria’s army and noted that the window for “triangular” arms exchange agreements closed in mid-2022 under Kirill Petkov’s government.
Moreover, President Radov argued that his country’s law prohibits the removal of weapons from military stocks without first providing a replacement. However, today, September 27, the Bulgarian parliament approved an unexpected decision to provide Ukraine with missiles for the S-300 air defense systems. But there is one “but”, the Bulgarian missiles are defective, they are more than 30 years old.
Heated debate
The Parliament of Bulgaria in a closed meeting agreed to the transfer to the Ukrainian Armed Forces of damaged and outdated missiles for the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. It was preceded by a heated debate among the deputies. As usual, there are representatives against Bulgarian Socialist Partypro-Russian Renaissancewhich is not expected to be supported by party representatives There are such people.
Please note that the representatives Renaissance said that they would not support this decision because “Bulgarian skies will remain unprotected.” The deputies also demanded an explanation as to why the missiles were defective.
Defense Minister Todor Tagarev explained that the missiles of the Bulgarian army are no longer needed, because they cannot be repaired even in Russia.
“The defective S-300 missiles that we are discussing to send to Ukraine account for 3 to 5% of the total, and the weapons that we have provided today do not affect the combat effectiveness of our army,” added Chief of Defense Admiral Emil Eftimov. .
Why does Ukraine need it?
The Chairman of the Defense Commission of the Bulgarian Parliament, Hristo Gadzhev, who is one of the initiators of the proposal, emphasized that Bulgaria will also provide anti-aircraft guided systems, which also have faults.
However, he said, they can be used as spare parts to repair the Ukrainian S-300s and protect the skies and cities of Ukraine. Gadzhev clarified that we are talking about Soviet weapons that are more than 30 years old. The same, he said, applies to faulty missiles.
Let’s remember that these systems and ammunition, although defective, are what Ukraine actually asked from Bulgaria.
Aggressive reaction from Russia
Bulgaria has historically had close ties with the Russian Federation, although the country has been part of the European Union and NATO since the early 2000s. Therefore, Russia quickly responded to Sofia’s decision to transfer military aid to Kyiv.
Moscow called on Bulgaria’s parliament to reverse today’s decision and said the transfer of ammunition to Ukraine would violate a military cooperation agreement between the Russian Federation and Bulgaria, which dates back to 2002.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.