Bulgaria has announced its intention to transfer around 100 units of Soviet-designed armored vehicles to Ukraine.
This was stated by the Minister of Defense of Bulgaria, Todor Tagarev, during a joint briefing with Oleksiy Reznikov in Odessa.
According to Tagarev, the process is being delayed because the vehicles are still stored in the warehouses of the Bulgarian Ministry of Internal Affairs. Therefore, a contract needs to be signed between the Bulgarian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, and the agreement must be ratified by the Bulgarian parliament.
“And as soon as it returns to its sessions in September, I believe this will be one of the priority tasks. By the end of September or the beginning of October, we will already have the ratification of this agreement, and I think that’s when the transfer can begin”, he said.
The Minister of Defense of Bulgaria emphasized that his country supports Ukraine in its efforts to liberate its territories occupied by Russia.
In addition, Reznikov informed that during the meeting, the ministers discussed the current situation, including in the Azov-Black Sea region, future cooperation, including the potential enhancement of Ukraine’s Air and Missile Defense (AMD) and Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD).
The supply of additional weapon systems, technical equipment, and ammunition is also possible.
Recall that on August 4, the Bulgarian government approved the supply of armored personnel carriers to Ukraine. The decision regarding armored vehicles was announced a week after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Bulgaria. The provision of APCs by Sofia marked the first publicly announced military aid package. Previously, all reports about the transfer of military goods from Bulgaria to Ukraine were unofficial.
Photo: open sources
