Russia is behind the blast at the Bulgarian ammunition depot – depot owner

The owner of the ammunition depot in Bulgaria, which suffered an explosion on July 31, is sure that Russia is behind the incident.

He shared this in his telephone interview with the Guardian.

Emilian Gebrev is “100% sure” that Russian operatives were behind an explosion at the Emco depot.

“There is no way this could have been an accident, there was nothing in the building that could have detonated without an outside interference,” Emilian Gebrev said.

The publication notes that it is the fifth time in recent years that blasts have occurred at facilities belonging to Emco. Bulgarian prosecutors have linked previous attacks to Russian operatives.

Gebrev was in a coma in 2015. Western authorities and intelligence agencies believe he was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok. The relevant evidence was released by Bellingcat investigative journalists. This is why the current explosions are believed to be of Russian origin as well.

Emilian Gebrev mentioned that he talked to his director of security, who reported an alarm system to be triggered at the warehouse moments before the blast, suggesting an intrusion.

Guards on the scene were preparing to investigate the intrusion when they heard a massive explosion. Nobody was hurt. At the same time, the CCTV recordings should be undamaged.

Law enforcement officers will investigate them after it is confirmed that the premises are safe to go inside.

Gebrev said the depot contained munitions dedicated for African countries that were ordered several years ago, but the buyers had not followed through with payment. He declined to specify the types of weapons or their value.

Cooperation with Ukraine

There is no specific evidence as to whether Emilian Gebrev was involved in the arms supplies to Ukraine. Last year, he told the New York Times that his companies were engaged in shipping weapons to Ukraine. However, currently, he insists that he had not had any dealings with Ukraine since the end of 2014.

He also stated that he was not supplying any arms deliveries to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February this year.