SINEMORETS, Bulgaria — The Bulgarian Navy destroyed what officials described as a floating drone after removing four shells from a device found on a beach near this southern coastal village. The ammunition was transported to the naval base in Burgas, and the craft was detonated in place because authorities suspected residual explosive material remained aboard, April 12.
In an official Defence Ministry statement, Bulgarian authorities said the object was discovered in the Korabite area near Sinemorets and handled by a specialized team from Naval Base Burgas. BTA’s report on the operation said the team was deployed after a request from the Burgas regional administration and approval from Chief of Defence Adm. Emil Eftimov, with the mission carried out under orders from Navy Commander Rear Adm. Kiril Mihaylov.
Black Sea drone incidents are continuing on Bulgaria’s coast
The Sinemorets blast did not come in isolation. Bulgarian Navy teams recovered a drone near Tsarevo and a drone wing near Burgas on April 2 and 3, and both were found not to contain explosives. Two days after the Sinemorets operation, another drone washed ashore in Nessebar and was transported to Burgas after the Defence Ministry said it posed no danger.
That makes the Sinemorets case more serious than the other recent beach recoveries because it involved shells that had to be removed before the craft itself could be destroyed. Bulgarian authorities have not publicly identified the drone’s origin, but the string of April incidents shows the coast is still producing suspicious objects that must be treated as potential explosive threats.
Black Sea drone finds fit a longer pattern
The latest discovery also fits a longer timeline of similar alerts. Bulgarian authorities dealt with a drone destroyed on Sozopol beach in August 2025, followed the next month by an unmanned surface vessel destroyed east of Varna in September 2025. Even earlier, Reuters reported in September 2023 that the Bulgarian army blew up explosives attached to a drone in Tyulenovo, underscoring how long such incidents have been surfacing along the coast.
Rather than reading as a one-off event, the Sinemorets case shows how often Bulgarian naval specialists are being called to inspect, transport or destroy suspicious objects along the Black Sea coast. The incidents stretching from Tyulenovo to Sozopol, Varna, Tsarevo, Burgas, Sinemorets and Nessebar point to a pattern that has persisted for years, not days.
