Explosions in Europe at two ammunition manufacturers in a week: how they are connected to Ukraine
Within one week, explosions and fires occurred at two European defense enterprises - KNDS Ammo Italy in Italy and a facility of the Bulgarian company EMCO. Both companies work with ammunition, and their activities at various times have been connected with Ukraine.
Currently, there is no confirmation that the two incidents are connected with each other or resulted from sabotage. Competent authorities are establishing the causes, so the mere fact that the companies work with defense products and have ties to Ukraine does not indicate a common origin of the explosions.
KNDS - one of Ukraine's key industrial partners
The Franco-German group KNDS has the most direct connection with Ukraine. It includes the Italian KNDS Ammo Italy. The group itself calls itself one of the most important industrial partners of the Ukrainian Ground Forces: back in autumn 2024, it reported approximately 800 systems already used or contracted for Ukraine, as well as significant deliveries of ammunition.
Among the KNDS equipment used by the Ukrainian military, the company mentions Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 tanks, French CAESAR artillery systems, German PzH 2000, AMX-10 RC armored vehicles, and Gepard anti-aircraft systems. In 2024, the concern also opened KNDS Ukraine in Kyiv to develop repair and maintenance of this equipment directly in Ukraine.
A separate area of cooperation is ammunition. KNDS has stated its intention to produce 155-mm artillery shells and spare parts in Ukraine together with Ukrainian industry. The group's product portfolio includes 155-mm ammunition of the LU, BONUS and KATANA families, as well as 120-mm tank and medium-caliber ammunition.
However, one should not equate all activities of the KNDS group directly with the enterprise where this week's explosion occurred. KNDS Ammo Italy in Colleferro is a separate Italian division specializing in medium- and large-caliber ammunition and supplying it to more than 40 countries. The enterprise produces ammunition components - from powders and explosives to fuzes, metal parts and warheads.
EMCO produces ammunition in Soviet calibers
Bulgarian EMCO operates in the segment of production and international trade of defense products. The company produces artillery and tank ammunition, products for rocket artillery, mortar ammunition and other weapons.
For Ukraine, the caliber nomenclature with which Bulgarian enterprises work is of particular importance. EMCO's plant in Tryavna produces, repairs and upgrades artillery and tank ammunition in 100, 115, 122, 125, 130 and 152 mm calibers. The enterprise in Montana produces mortars of 60, 81, 82 and 120 mm calibers. A significant part of these standards originates from the Soviet weapon system and is still used by the Ukrainian army.
However, in the case of EMCO, it is more correct to speak of historical ties with Ukrainian defense supplies than to automatically claim that the products related to the current incident were destined for Ukraine.
EMCO has already appeared in sabotage cases
The current incident in Bulgaria draws additional attention because of the history of previous explosions at the country's defense facilities. In 2021, the Bulgarian prosecutor's office announced an investigation into four explosions at warehouses and enterprises in 2011-2020. Part of the destroyed products was related to EMCO, and according to the investigation, the ammunition was intended for export to Georgia and Ukraine.
Investigators then stated that in all four cases, fires occurred before the explosions, and the charges, according to expert examinations, were triggered remotely. The Bulgarian prosecutor's office also reported the stay in the country of six Russian citizens in periods close to these events and assumed that the purpose of their actions could have been to stop the supply of defense products to Ukraine and Georgia.
In 2024, the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office announced that six Russian citizens had been charged with terrorism in the framework of the investigation into these explosions and European arrest warrants were issued. At the same time, the court noted that the evidence base regarding the authorship of specific episodes is largely indirect.
This story creates an important context for the new incident related to EMCO, but it does not, by itself, prove the sabotage nature of the current event. Similarly, there is currently no reason to link the explosion in Bulgaria with the incident at KNDS Ammo Italy.
What remains a common feature of the two companies is their place in the European defense industry. KNDS directly services a large park of Western equipment for Ukraine and develops joint production of 155-mm ammunition, while EMCO has production competencies in calibers characteristic of Soviet-origin weapons.
Based on materials from: KNDS, EMCO, Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office
