Bulgarian opposition claims "illegal" arms flow to Ukraine
Kostadin Kostadinov, the leader of the Bulgarian opposition party Revival, accused the government of providing "illegal" aid to Ukraine. In his opinion, Bulgarian rockets are reaching the front lines, despite a lack of unanimity among Bulgarian authorities regarding their transfer.
The Bulgarianmilitary portal reports that Kostadin Kostadinov did not specify which rockets he was referring to. Bulgarian warehouses hold a large arsenal of various types of missiles that are highly sought after by the Ukrainian armed forces. Bulgaria has supported Ukraine's army almost from the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022, although political divisions and pro-Russian propaganda have posed challenges.
Tochka-U from Bulgaria for Ukraine?
Among NATO countries, Bulgaria is seen as a leader in the production of ammunition for Soviet-era artillery systems, which Ukraine also employs. This includes systems such as the 2S1 Gvozdika, 2S3 Akatsiya, and BM-21 Grad.
The Bulgarianmilitary portal, however, highlights more powerful weapons in the form of Tochka-U ballistic missiles, which might have attracted interest from the pro-Russian Revival party. Despite their history dating back to the 1980s, they remain dangerous, as evidenced by the ongoing Ukrainian-Russian conflict. The Tochka-U has a maximum strike range of about 120 kilometres and can carry various types of warheads, including conventional, cluster, and even nuclear.
Bulgarian aid for Ukraine
Although officially, aid from Bulgaria to Ukraine was gradually increased as the war progressed, some sources suggest that Sofia might have been supporting Kyiv quite robustly from the onset of the Russian aggression. For instance, the German portal Welt published an article in 2023, indicating that Bulgarian ammunition supplies could have met up to one-third of Ukraine's needs in the early months of the conflict.
It is estimated that substantial amounts of bulletproof vests, helmets, 122-mm artillery shells, as well as various types of mortar rounds, handheld anti-tank weapons with dedicated ammunition, and grenades have been supplied from Bulgaria to Ukraine.
An undisclosed number of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles also reached the front, and towards the end of 2023, after many heated discussions in the Bulgarian parliament, the final decision was made to send BTR-60 armoured vehicles to Ukraine.
