Drone marked ‘Shahed’ washes ashore on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast

A drone measuring three by four metres was found on a beach near Shabla, on Bulgaria’s northern Black Sea coast near the Romanian border. It was found about 800 metres from Shabla lighthouse, close to a military air defence training range. Police cordoned off the area, the Dobrich regional police directorate said, as quoted by the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).

A person walking along the shore spotted the military drone and reported it, Shabla Mayor Mariyan Zhechev told Bulgarian National Radio. Initial reports suggest the drone washed ashore and was carrying an explosive charge. “It is also marked ‘Shahed’,” Zhechev said. A bomb disposal team was expected to make it safe.

Shahed is a family of Iranian military drones that became widely known through Russia’s use of them in its war against Ukraine. The family includes both reusable drones designed for reconnaissance and strikes and one-way attack drones. Russia produces a version of one of the latter under the name Geran-2.

Editor: Ivo Ivanov