After many months of hesitation and internal disagreements, Bulgaria is expected to take new decisions on the support it will send to Ukraine in this crucial period of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
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What will Bulgaria send to Kiev?
More specifically, and according to an article in the Ukrainian defence website Defence Express, Bulgarian media reported on 7 December that Sofia will provide weapons and training to the personnel of the Ukrainian armed forces.
According to a Radio Bulgaria report cited by the Ukrainian article, after "heated disagreements" in the defence commission it was decided to transfer "non-operational and outdated" anti-aircraft missile systems to Ukraine.
Interestingly, the Bulgarian report describes these weapons as 'man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems' (MANPADS) and 'anti-aircraft missiles of various types'.
These missiles are not operational and are more than 30 years old, but the Ukrainians intend to dismantle them in order to use their components as spare parts for their own systems. This was stated by the Chairman of the Defence Committee of the Bulgarian parliament, Hristo Gadjev, after the vote in the parliament of the Balkan country.
The Ukrainian Defense Express, however, recalls that in September Bulgaria had given the green light for the transfer of missiles for the Ukrainian army's S-300 air defense systems. At that time we were dealing with another difficult decision, which had met with much disagreement in Sofia and again involved obsolete missiles that needed repairs before they could be used by Kiev's systems.
According to the famous Military Balance 2023 page, Bulgaria currently has Strela-2 MANPADS, as well as Osa, S-125M and Kub surface-to-air missile systems (SAMs).
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In addition to air defence missiles, Bulgaria promised to help train infantry and mechanised teams of 160 soldiers, as well as to support the training of Ukrainian pilots in Western F-16 fighters. For the latter support, Sofia issued a special permit for the use of the state's airspace.
Earlier this week we informed you that the Bulgarian president vetoed the supply of BTR-60 armored vehicles to Ukraine. However, the Bulgarian parliament did not agree with the Bulgarian leader's decision, with the result that Ukrainians hope that the Sofia parliament will soon overturn this veto.
