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Bulgarian defense minister: Bulgaria to send 100 armored vehicles to Ukraine 'in few days'

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Bulgarian defense minister: Bulgaria to send 100 armored vehicles to Ukraine 'in few days'
Bulgarian Defense Minister Todor Tagarev at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting on June 15, 2023 in Brussels, Belgium. (Omar Havana/Getty Images)

Bulgarian Defense Minister Todor Tagarev announced the delivery of 100 armored personnel carriers (APC) "in a few days," the Bulgarian channel BTV reported on Feb. 28.

"The armored personnel carriers are still in Sofia. They will be transferred in a few days, but I will not say the precise dates," Tagarev said.

The Bulgarian parliament approved the supply of 100 armored vehicles from the Interior Ministry's stocks to Ukraine last December, together with armaments and spare parts, free of charge. The decision to send the APCs had to override a veto by Bulgarian President Rumen Radev.

The delivery of armored vehicles was previously delayed due to high shipping costs. Tagarev said the Bulgarian side waited for NATO partners to help with the expenditures for transport.

The Bulgarian defense minister also said Bulgaria has already provided Ukraine with $47 million in aid.

Bulgaria and Ukraine agreed on armored personnel carriers' delivery in July 2023 after Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov met with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Bucharest.

According to Denkov, the Bulgarian Armed Forces had never used these APCs as its soldiers had not had the required training.

Bulgaria has become increasingly supportive of Ukraine as the war has progressed. Denkov's government took a decisively pro-Kyiv stance and committed arms supplies to Ukraine despite opposition from Radev.

Zelensky meets with Bulgarian PM in Kyiv
It was Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov’s first visit to Ukraine since he became the head of Bulgaria’s government in June 2023.
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Kateryna Hodunova

News Editor

Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

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