An arms warehouse explodes in Bulgaria, second similar incident in a matter of weeks

An explosion sparked a massive fire at an arms warehouse in central Bulgaria on Friday evening. Local authorities said the incident caused no injuries.

The incident was reported near the village of Tsareva Livada and marks the second similar case at a facility linked to ammunition in the space of a few weeks.

According to reports by local media, the fire started at one of the facilities of the Bulgarian arms trading company EMCO. An explosion at another facility belonging to the same company was also recorded last month.

“For the moment, the fire is in the factory’s warehouse area. It is spreading from one warehouse to another,” Gabrovo district governor Kristina Sidorova told the media in the early hours of the morning.

EMCO is owned by Bulgarian arms dealer Emilian Gebrev. Bulgarian prosecutors have previously stated that the company’s facilities may have been attacked by Russian agents.

In 2024, Bulgaria issued arrest warrants for six Russian nationals suspected of having played a role in the explosions and destruction of EMCO’s arms warehouses. The facilities stored ammunition intended for export to Ukraine and Georgia during the period 2011–2020.

The previous explosions at ammunition depots were linked by Bulgarian prosecutors to an attempt to poison Emilian Gebrev in 2015, as well as to the 2014 explosions at ammunition warehouses in the Czech Republic.

Moscow has denied any involvement in these events. Meanwhile, Bulgarian authorities are continuing their investigation to determine the cause of the explosion and assess the damage caused by the fire.