Bulgaria Probes Blaze at Arms Depot Amid Neglect and Sabotage Claims

Bulgarian authorities have opened investigations into an explosion and fire at a weapons storage site in central Bulgaria, the second such incident at a facility linked to arms manufacturer EMCO in recent weeks.

Interior Minister Ivan Dermendzhiev said on Saturday that no one was hurt in the overnight blaze near the village of Tsareva Livada and that the fire had been brought under control. Investigations are continuing, he added.

The minister suggested a possible connection between the latest incident and an earlier fire in August at another EMCO facility. He criticised the company's management, saying there had been a failure to properly maintain the conditions in which explosives and ammunition are kept, as well as shortcomings in security arrangements.

"We have one incident, we have a second," Dermendzhiev said, describing the storage of such materials as a serious source of danger that leaves no room for neglected precautions.

He did not respond to suggestions from opposition parties that the fires could be acts of sabotage by Moscow targeting plants that supply arms to Ukraine. Dermendzhiev is part of the centre-left government of former president Rumen Radev, which has been hesitant about providing military assistance to Kyiv.

EMCO has supplied arms to Ukraine, and its facilities have seen several explosions over the past decade. In 2015, the company's owner, Emilian Gebrev, survived an assassination attempt. Three Russian nationals suspected of being operatives of Russian military intelligence have been charged in connection with that case.