Bulgaria accuses Russia of repeatedly violating its airspace
The Minister of Defense of Bulgaria, Nikolay Nenchev, stated that Bulgarian airspace has been increasingly violated by Russian aircraft—actions that can be interpreted as provocation against Bulgaria and its Air Force, Reuters reported. According to Nenchev, four cases of flights of military aircraft and six cases of flights of passenger liners through Bulgarian airspace were recorded in June.
Nenchev claims that Russian aircraft entering Bulgarian airspace switch off their transponders—trackers that allow aircraft to be detected with the help of radar. Bulgarian authorities have already demanded explanations from Moscow. Bulgaria regularly closes its airspace to Russian aircraft.
In October 2015, Bulgarian authorities banned the a flight of an IL-76 MES carrying humanitarian cargo to Latakia, Syria. The Republic of Bulgaria also closed its airspace to aircraft carrying Russian humanitarian cargo in September.