Bulgarian arms dealer Omelyan Gebrev is sure that Russia is involved in the explosion at his companyʼs ammunition warehouse in Bulgaria.
He stated this to The Guardian.
"This cannot be an accident: there was nothing in the building that could have exploded without outside intervention," he noted. Gebrev said he spoke with the companyʼs director of security, who said minutes before the explosion, the warehouseʼs alarm system went off, indicating an intrusion. Security guards at the scene were preparing to investigate when they heard a loud explosion.
He added that there should be CCTV footage that could show the attackers, but so far police and investigators have been unable to enter the warehouse due to the possibility of more explosions.
Gebrev said that the warehouse had ammunition intended for African countries, which had been ordered several years ago, but the buyers had not paid for them. He refused to specify the types of weapons and their cost.
The explosion occurred on Sunday in the city of Karnobat. In recent years, this is already the fifth case at facilities belonging to Gebrevʼs Emco arms company. The Bulgarian Prosecutorʼs Office links previous attacks with Russia.
- On April 18, 2021, the Czech government accused the Russian game of organizing an explosion at an ammunition depot near Vrbetice in 2014. These warehouses belonged to Gebrev. After that, the country announced the expulsion of 70 people, including diplomats. As a sign of solidarity , Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Slovakia began expelling Russian diplomats. Subsequently, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic called on EU countries to expel at least one Russian diplomat each.
- Investigative journalists reported that the explosions were organized by the 29155 unit of the Russian Air Force in order to disrupt the supply of ammunition to Ukraine. The operation was led by General Andrii Averʼyanov, and among the executors were the Skripalsʼ poisoners in Great Britain — Oleksandr Mishkin and Anatoly Chepiga. The same group is involved in two attempts to poison Gebrev, whose ammunition was stored in a Czech warehouse.
- At the end of June 2021, the Czech Republic demanded €25.5 million from Russia for the explosions. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation announced an extortion.