⚡️The Parliament of 🇧🇬Bulgaria has approved the provision of about 100 armored personnel carriers for 🇺🇦Ukraine – BGNES. pic.twitter.com/XGgCXpKF3t
— 🇺🇦Ukrainian Front (@front_ukrainian) July 21, 2023
Purchased in the 1980s, these Soviet-designed BTR armored personnel carriers were never deployed. “Bulgaria no longer needs this equipment, which can provide valuable support to Ukraine in its struggle to maintain its independence and territorial integrity,” the text told Russia. The socialists of the PSB, successor to the Communist Party that once ruled the country, opposed the decision, as did the young pro-Russian ultranationalist formation Vazrajdane (Renaissance), which denounced “a treason and a disgrace”.
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Bulgaria, a member of the EU and NATO, has a large inventory of Soviet equipment and weapons, and also produces ammunition. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also came to Sofia in early July to talk about speeding up deliveries. Since that visit, the government has announced an unprecedented aid package, believed to include weapons and grenades, although it declined to give details because the issue is so divided in the country.
In practice, however, the armaments factories have been running at full speed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.