Bulgaria's "Secret Aid to Ukraine" Action Exposed

Reference News Network 65438+1October 23rd According to the website of Russian newspaper Izvestia 65438+1October 2nd1Sunday, a big scandal broke out in Bulgaria. It is reported that the country has provided weapons, ammunition and diesel to Kiev, but the authorities have not officially announced military assistance.

According to German newspaper Le Monde and American newspaper Politics, in the spring of 2022, Bulgaria secretly provided Ukraine with fuel and Soviet-made weapons. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba visited Sofia in April.

During the talks, the two sides reached an agreement on the supply of weapons. However, the Bulgarian government has not signed a formal agreement with Kiev. Facing the camera, politicians only announced that Bulgaria would repair Ukrainian equipment. In fact, Bulgaria began to supply weapons through the intermediary of other NATO countries. According to Le Monde, the United States and Britain paid for the goods. The main transportation route passes through Reshuff Airport in Poland. In the first four months of Russian special military operations, Bulgarian transport planes flew there at least 60 times. In addition, land routes through Romania and Hungary were used.

In August 2022, kirill Petcov, the former Bulgarian Prime Minister, confirmed the arms export. He said: "We estimate that about one-third of the ammunition needed by the Ukrainian army at the beginning of the war came from Bulgaria." Bulgaria also meets 40% of Ukraine's diesel demand. In addition, according to Bloomberg News, Bulgaria transferred heavy weapons through intermediaries, including Soviet T-72 tanks. However, stoianov, head of the Ministry of National Defense, denied the news. He said: "Tanks are the assets of the Bulgarian army and are in the hands of our troops."

Bulgaria is experiencing a protracted political crisis. 202 1 Three parliamentary elections were held. In June of that year, 5438+065438+ 10, the "We Continue to Change" alliance led by former Minister of Economy kirill Petcov was granted the right to form a cabinet.

After the Ukrainian military action began, the Petcov administration took a clear anti-Russian stance.

The Petcov administration tried to formally approve the supply of weapons to Ukraine, but its President Radev criticized the idea. Rajiv said: "We will definitely not provide military assistance to Ukraine. Otherwise, it will be a step for Bulgaria to intervene in the conflict. " The survey shows that most Bulgarians are opposed to being involved in the conflict.

Information about the secret supply has long been circulated. In June 2022, Aleksandr Mikhaylov, the head of the Bulgarian defense enterprise Kintex, was accused of corruption and forced to resign. In retaliation, he revealed that the plane carrying weapons had flown to Rushf airport, and Bulgaria provided 4,200 tons of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, including 122 mm rockets for the "Hail" rocket launcher system.

Investigators also found that Bulgaria had transported artillery shells through Romanian territory.

Due to scandal and economic crisis, Bulgaria's ruling Coalition disintegrated. In June 5438+last year 10, the country held its fourth parliamentary election in a year and a half. But relations with Moscow have not improved.

Oksana Petrofska, an expert at the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies, pointed out that "Bulgarian society is severely divided, which is reflected in the parliamentary party struggle. Two political parties are opposed to providing military assistance to Ukraine, and four political parties support it. The political struggle is fierce. But the facts show that it is the supporters of Ukraine who are in power. Bulgaria is a small and poor country. It is a member of the European Union and wants to join the Schengen area. Therefore, politically, Bulgaria has to follow other western countries. "

Editor: Yue Yutian

Extended reading:

The United States warned China that if it helped Russia, it would pay the price.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is about to reach the node of one year. Although the international community is tired of this to varying degrees, the time for peace talks has not yet arrived.

It is reported that the United States, Germany and France continue to provide military assistance to Ukraine. Among them, the American "tank killer" Bradley infantry fighting vehicle has attracted much attention. It is reported that this type of chariot can launch a fatal blow to Russian tanks at a long distance, which will be a great help for the Ukrainian army to launch a counterattack.

At the same time, it also indicates that Ukraine is constantly acquiring weapons with higher specifications. Some experts are worried about this. Higher-standard weapons will only strengthen Uzbekistan's determination not to speak, which also means that the "bet" of western countries is increasing.

On the other hand, the United States said that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has no prospect of ending in the next few months. At the same time, the United States stressed that everything is because Russia does not intend to stop fighting, which is also the reason why the United States provides a new package of military assistance.

In fact, however, dissatisfaction with the Russian-Ukrainian war has begun to spread in the United States. According to the report, a large number of US lawmakers have begun to question President Biden's Ukrainian strategy. Some people believe that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict cannot end with Ukraine's victory at all, and US military assistance is only "hollowing out" itself.

However, the Ukrainian side took the lead in expressing "disgust" to the United States and western countries. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba issued a document on the 9th, saying that as long as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is not resolved, it means that "no one has done enough". He further urged his American and Western allies to implement new military assistance.

It can also be seen that Uzbekistan's urgent desire for military assistance just shows that Uzbekistan is unwilling to end the conflict in the form of peace talks, and by the way, it has hit the face of the US statement that it is entirely Russia's fault.

In what form will the Russian-Ukrainian conflict finally end? In the short term, if it continues in the form of military conflict, it is basically impossible to produce a "winner", but in the long run, it depends largely on the attitude of the United States. However, it is clear that the current thinking of the United States is still to prolong the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian President, believes that military assistance from the United States and western countries will only aggravate the suffering of the Ukrainian people and will not solve any problems. He stressed that these military assistance cannot interrupt Russia's process of achieving the goal of special military operations.

Although Russia's various forms of power losses are serious, it can be seen that Russia's attitude is still "don't give up until you reach your goal." In order to weaken Russia's strength, the United States has begun to plan to limit the assistance of Russian allies, and China has also been targeted by the United States.

Some American media reporters said that Russian military transport planes were frequently sent to China. Does this mean that China has provided assistance to Russia? Ned Price, a spokesman for the State Council, said that the United States is paying close attention to relevant trends.

He stressed that if China's aid to Russia is used against Ukraine, or China's actions help Russia evade sanctions, China will "pay the price".

It can be seen that the United States is quite wary of possible aid to China. After all, the United States has always regarded China as its only competitor. Once China gets involved in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, it will have a subversive influence. However, from the very beginning of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, China made it clear that it would not get involved in it, but would promote the Russian-Ukrainian peace talks in its own way.