A night‑time fire broke out at an ammunition storage facility operated by the private defence firm EMCO in the central Bulgarian village of Gorni Varpishta, about 170 km east of Sofia. The blaze triggered a series of explosions but caused no injuries.
Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said investigators are not dismissing the possibility of external interference, while EMCO issued a statement asserting that human error has been completely excluded and that the incident is the result of sabotage.
According to the company, the depot had been out of use for several months and had undergone a regulatory inspection just twenty days before the fire, which confirmed full compliance with safety standards.
EMCO, owned by arms dealer Emilian Gebrev – who has previously been the target of alleged Russian‑linked attacks, including a 2015 poisoning attempt on him, his son and a colleague – described the event as part of a continuing series of sabotage actions against Bulgaria’s defence industry dating back to 2011.
Bulgaria, a key supplier of weapons to Ukraine, has recently halted state‑run arms deliveries to Kyiv, but private firms like EMCO continue to export military equipment. The fire follows other suspicious incidents at defence sites across Europe, which several countries have attributed to Russian sabotage, although Moscow denies involvement.
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Category: International
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