Drone fragment washes ashore at Olimp as Romanian and Bulgarian Black Sea coast logs series of discoveries
A drone fragment washed ashore at Olimp on Romania's Black Sea coast on 15 August, the latest in a string of similar discoveries from Costinești to Saturn and across the border in Bulgaria over three consecutive days.
Fragment at Olimp
On Saturday, 15 August, around 15:30, a lifeguard at the beach in Olimp spotted a drone fragment floating approximately 30 meters offshore. He watched the waves push it gradually toward the beach, then secured the area and covered the object with his own lifejacket to keep the few tourists present from approaching. Police, gendarmes, firefighters and border police all arrived at the scene. After a visual examination found no indication of an explosive charge, authorities decided against evacuating the beach. The fragment was taken by gendarmes for further analysis.
The lifeguard described how he handled the object.
Am lăsat-o după să eșueze, până mi-a luat-o valul până la mal.
Am asigurat perimetrul. Am învelit-o cu geaca de salvamar.
Incidents across the Romanian coast
The Olimp discovery followed several similar incidents over the preceding two days. On Thursday, 13 August, around 08:30, the Ministry of National Defence was informed of a drone fragment at the Tineretului Terrace area in Costinești, about 15 meters from the breakwater. At around 10:40 the Coast Guard requested support from the Romanian Naval Forces, which dispatched an EOD diver team. The team determined the fragment posed no pyrotechnic risk and handed it to the Coast Guard.
On Friday, 14 August, another fragment was found at Costinești, near the location where the drone had been identified the day before. Authorities did not rule out that this piece had detached from the Thursday drone. It carried no explosive charge. Also on Friday, a fragment washed ashore at Saturn; specialists confirmed it had no pyrotechnic elements, though a section of the beach was evacuated as a precaution.
- Drone fragment reported at Costinești, ~15m from breakwater; EOD team finds no pyrotechnic risk
- Second fragment found at Costinești, possibly detached from Thursday's drone; no explosive charge
- Fragment washes ashore at Saturn; beach section evacuated; no pyrotechnic elements found
- Drone discovered near Plauru, Tulcea county
- Bulgarian Navy recovers Russian reconnaissance drone near Primorsko, south of Burgas
- Plauru drone neutralized by controlled detonation by MApN team
- Drone fragment spotted ~30m offshore at Olimp; lifeguard secures it; no evacuation
Plauru drone detonated
In Tulcea county, a drone was discovered on Friday, 14 August, near the locality of Plauru. On Saturday, 15 August, a specialized team from the Ministry of National Defence neutralized it through controlled detonation in safe conditions. The ministry published a short video of the detonation.
Bulgarian authorities report Russian drone
Bulgarian authorities also detected a drone in their Black Sea waters on Friday. According to a statement from Bulgaria's Ministry of Defence, the drone was found near a beach in Primorsko, a few kilometers south of Burgas and 430 kilometers east of Sofia. A Navy team recovered it and transported it to the Burgas naval base, where specialists concluded it was a reconnaissance aircraft. Remains of another drone were also found in Bulgarian waters.
Unanswered questions
No official information has been released regarding the model of the drones, their country of origin, or the circumstances in which they ended up in the Black Sea. Romanian authorities have yet to determine the exact nature and provenance of the Olimp fragment, which is now undergoing analysis.
