EditRussia’s firefighting mission to Serbia puts Bulgaria in an awkward spot
Moscow sends an Il-76 to help extinguish wildfires in Serbia via Bulgarian aispace, invoking humanitarian urgency
A Russian aircraft has flown through Bulgarian airspace on its way to Serbia to help fight the wildfires spreading across the country, in a move that has raised questions in Bulgaria about why Belgrade turned to Moscow rather than the EU for assistance, and about the potential security and information implications of the mission.
The Russian Il-76 aircraft landed in the Serbian city of Niš late on Wednesday, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported. The information first emerged from Russian reports and was subsequently confirmed by Bulgarian authorities.
Niš is also home to the headquarters of the Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Centre, established in 2012 and surrounded for years by questions over its real activities.
Secretive flights raise new doubts over Serbian-Russian humanitarian centre
The development came only days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev.
“An Il-76 aircraft of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations was sent to Serbia to help fight forest fires. The Serbian side turned to Russia for assistance amid the critical situation with the fires and the growing threat to populated areas. Russia responded to the call,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a post on X.
Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry said the Russian aircraft had crossed Bulgarian airspace on a humanitarian mission to help fight fires in Serbia. The aircraft entered Bulgarian airspace at 20:14 and left it at 21:05 before landing at Niš airport, the ministry said.
Bulgarian institutions issued the necessary permits for the flight in accordance with established procedures, it added.
“At a time when forest fires in the Republic of Serbia continue to spread near the Bulgarian border and threaten cross-border areas, international cooperation to contain the disaster is of particular importance,” the ministry said. It added that the return flight plan had not yet been submitted.
Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry explained that the overflight was carried out following formal requests from Serbia and from Russia, including the aircraft’s technical specifications and information about its crew.
A firefighting aircraft with a political dimension
The Il-76 is equipped with a specially designed firefighting system capable of releasing up to 42 tonnes of water over the most intense fires, covering an area of up to 700 by 65 metres. The aircraft’s ability to tackle large-scale fires has earned it the nickname “fire bomber”.
Former Bulgarian defence minister Velizar Shalamanov described the situation as a precedent because the flight took place under emergency conditions.
“This urgency puts our institutions to the test – the Defence Ministry, the Transport Ministry and the Ministry of Interior, which must ensure that our strategic sites are protected,” Shalamanov told Bulgarian National Radio.
He argued that the flight also raised questions about the wider security implications of allowing the Russian aircraft to cross Bulgarian airspace.
“The aircraft lands precisely in Niš, close to the fires, and there is an understanding among the intelligence services that a Russian intelligence centre operates there,” he said.
He also pointed to Serbia’s military build-up in recent years and its negotiations on EU membership, arguing that Belgrade’s decision to seek assistance from Russia rather than the EU created additional tension and sent a signal that the situation carried risks.
“We need a strategy for such situations,” Shalamanov said, calling for a more detailed analysis and for Bulgaria to develop resilience against what he described as this type of information manipulation.
‘The old Russian hybrid’
Ivaylo Mirchev, co-chair of the opposition Yes, Bulgaria, part of the Democratic Bulgaria coalition, described the episode as a familiar Russian narrative.
“The old Russian hybrid: You have fires, the EU cannot help you, we are coming to put them out with our aircraft!” Mirchev told EUalive.
He pointed out that while the Russian aircraft was flying from Russia to Serbia, Russia itself was dealing with a dozen fires reportedly caused by Ukrainian attacks that Russian authorities were unable to extinguish.
“There are still people who fall for this – good Putin sends us a firefighting aircraft to save us from the fire,” Mirchev said. He argued that this narrative had been used in countries including Syria, Venezuela and Iran, adding that their alliances with Russia had ultimately not ended well for their former dictators.
Mirchev also recalled that only three weeks earlier Serbia had sent firefighters and a helicopter to Spain through the European mechanism for emergency assistance. This time, he said, Belgrade had not activated that mechanism but had instead turned to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The resulting narrative, he argued, could then be used to claim that Europe had abandoned Serbia.
The episode has also acquired a starkly contrasting dimension because, on the same day that Russia sent an aircraft to Serbia to fight fires, Russian missiles were setting residential buildings in Kyiv ablaze. At least 12 people were killed and 34 civilians injured during the night, according to the information cited by Mirchev.
The flight also recalls a previous use of Bulgarian airspace by Serbian and Slovak leaders. Last year, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić flew through Bulgarian airspace on their way to Moscow to attend Vladimir Putin’s military parade.
Sources: TASS, BNR, BTA
Caption: An Il-76 similar or identical to the one sent to Serbia [Russian Embassy to South Africa on X]
Updated: August 20, 2026 - 13:14
