Photo: YouTube/Defense Flash News
As the old saying goes, bad things happen to the best of us. This is probably one of those cases, as seven U.S. soldiers stormed a privately owned factory producing machinery for olive oil during a NATO drill.
Earlier this month, the Defender-Europe 21 kicked off in Estonia. The large-scale military event saw the participation of U.S. troops and NATO allies, with the stated goal of developing “airborne interoperability between the U.S., NATO allies and European partners,” through simultaneous exercises in Estonia, Bulgaria, and Romania.
On May 11, one of these exercises involving seven soldiers from the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade took a turn for the unexpected when the soldiers steered off the perimeter and went onto private land to raid a nearby factory that makes machinery for olive oil production. Defense Brief has confirmation from the U.S. embassy in Bulgaria that the raid was an honest mistake.
The soldiers were simulating seizing and securing the Cheshnegirovo airfield in south-central Bulgaria, going from building to building to clear the area. They came upon the building housing the machinery factory next to the airfield and mistakenly assumed it was part of the exercise.
Footage lifted from surveillance cameras shows the armed soldiers entering the factory and leaving after they had “secured” it. According to the report, aside from the breach, no other incident occurred, and workers on-site remained calm. The only worker seen in the video is one man who, perhaps knowing the drill was taking place next door, didn’t as much as get up from his seat when the soldiers came in.
Bulgarian journalist Dilyana Gaytandzhieva, who shared the video on Twitter, says that the factory owner has filed a lawsuit for the unexpected visit. Sadly, Gaytandzhieva doesn’t say who exactly the defendant in the lawsuit is, or what claims the factory owner cited for it in the filing.
On May 11, one of these exercises involving seven soldiers from the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade took a turn for the unexpected when the soldiers steered off the perimeter and went onto private land to raid a nearby factory that makes machinery for olive oil production. Defense Brief has confirmation from the U.S. embassy in Bulgaria that the raid was an honest mistake.
The soldiers were simulating seizing and securing the Cheshnegirovo airfield in south-central Bulgaria, going from building to building to clear the area. They came upon the building housing the machinery factory next to the airfield and mistakenly assumed it was part of the exercise.
Footage lifted from surveillance cameras shows the armed soldiers entering the factory and leaving after they had “secured” it. According to the report, aside from the breach, no other incident occurred, and workers on-site remained calm. The only worker seen in the video is one man who, perhaps knowing the drill was taking place next door, didn’t as much as get up from his seat when the soldiers came in.
Bulgarian journalist Dilyana Gaytandzhieva, who shared the video on Twitter, says that the factory owner has filed a lawsuit for the unexpected visit. Sadly, Gaytandzhieva doesn’t say who exactly the defendant in the lawsuit is, or what claims the factory owner cited for it in the filing.
US special forces mistakenly storm a factory producing machinery for olive oil during #NATO drills in #Bulgaria. The owner has filed a law suit pic.twitter.com/3NRM558Q7g
— Dilyana Gaytandzhieva (@dgaytandzhieva) May 30, 2021
Google News