Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

The drone that flew over Sofia Airport is of a military type and is used for espionage and surveillance

Border Police Director Anton Zlatanov
Photo: BTA-archive

The mysterious drone that made random maneuvers at Sofia Airport on February 7 and delayed six flights was hacked, manipulated, and was definitely not random. Large drones like the one used are military-type and are used for espionage and surveillance, Border Police Director Anton Zlatanov told public broadcaster BNT.

''A drone sold by a licensed company will not be able to fly over the airport because the area is restricted. This indicates that the drone was manipulated and that this was a deliberate action'', Anton Zlatanov said further.

The drone was apparently hacked, said Todor Ivandjikov, President of the Bulgarian Aviation Industry Association. ''In most drones, the software is programmed to include the airport as a restricted zone. This drone was apparently hacked or specially assembled, with its software allowing it to pass anywhere'', the expert commented.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Valentin Mundrov with Annette Kroeber-Riel

Bulgaria's E-Government Minister meets with Google's Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy for Europe

At a meeting in Berlin with Google’s Vice President for Government Affairs and Public Policy for Europe Annette Kroeber-Riel, Minister of E-Government Valentin Mundrov stated that Bulgaria’s partnership with the tech giant is of strategic importance in..

published on 11/18/25 6:11 PM

Constitutional court rules that the National Assembly speaker has no right to decide unilaterally on a national referendum

The Speaker of the National Assembly has no right to rule unilaterally on a national referendum. This becomes clear from a decision of the Constitutional Court in relation to the refusal of former Parliament Speaker Natalia Kiselova to submit for..

published on 11/18/25 5:55 PM
 Rumen Spetsov

LUKOIL Neftohim special administrator removes board chair Manyakhin

The special commercial administrator of Lukoil Neftochim Burgas, Rumen Spetsov, has dismissed Evgeny Manyakhin as chairman of the company's board and revoked his authority to represent the company.  The decision has been published in the Commercial..

published on 11/18/25 4:11 PM