Bulgaria approves transfer of defective missiles to Ukraine

At an extraordinary meeting, the Defense Committee of the Bulgarian National Assembly adopted a proposal that Bulgaria send to Ukraine defective 5B55R(K) anti-aircraft guided missiles and ammunition for 5.56x45 mm automatic small arms that are no longer needed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

This was reported by Novini.bg.

The proposal was adopted with 11 votes in favor and 4 against. There were no abstentions.

During the meeting, an expert from the Ministry of Defense explained that these missiles had failed tests and that Bulgaria had no way to repair them.

The fault for the fact that this equipment cannot be serviced is rather political, said Nikolay Drenchev of the Revival party during the debate.

"It is a shame that we will be left with even more degraded and unprotected skies. With this political decision, we are pushing our army in a suicidal direction. We would recommend looking for ways to keep all our equipment in working order," he added.

"In Bulgaria, we do not have the ability to repair missiles of this type, but Ukraine does. This is done in conditions that we do not have," commented Defense Minister Todor Tagarev.

The provision of faulty missiles to Ukraine will in no way impair the capabilities of the Bulgarian army. Experts claim that they cannot be repaired in Bulgaria, Defense Minister Tagarev assured.

According to Hristo Gadev of the GERB-SDS, chairman of the defense commission, the assistance provided to Ukraine has not yet impaired the combat capability of the Bulgarian army.

Author - Olena Madiak, 26/09/2023