Military drone found in sea off Greece is Ukrainian
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The Greek coast guard took custody of the sea drone after it was found by fishermen on May 7.
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- Greece's Defence Minister confirmed a Ukrainian military sea drone, found with explosives by fishermen off Lefkada on May 7, was a navigation threat.
- Minister Nikos Dendias stated the Ukrainian drone incident seriously impacts navigation freedom and security in the Mediterranean Sea.
- The drone resembles Magura-class models used by Ukraine; Kyiv previously admitted targeting Russian tankers in the Mediterranean.
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BRUSSELS – A military sea drone found last week off the Greek island of Lefkada is Ukrainian and posed a threat to navigation, Greece’s Defence Minister said on May 12.
Mr Nikos Dendias, in Brussels for a ministers’ meeting, said he had briefed European counterparts on the “drone that we fished in Greece” on May 7, adding that “we have certainty” that it was of Ukrainian origin.
Mr Dendias said it was an “extremely serious issue” that affected the freedom and security of navigation.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said Kyiv had “no information whatsoever” about the drone.
“There is no evidence at all that it belongs to Ukrainian maritime drone operators,” he said.
“We are open to cooperating with the Greek side to clarify the circumstances of the incident if we receive appropriate requests from them.”
The Greek coast guard on May 8 said it had initially taken custody of the sea drone after it was found by fishermen and towed it to a Lefkada port, before handing it over to the armed forces.
A Greek military source at the weekend told AFP that army and navy experts had found explosives on board.
Officials had earlier said that the unmanned surface vehicle resembled a Magura-class sea drone used by Ukraine’s armed forces against Russian ships in the Crimea.
Mr Dendias on May 12 noted that the Ukrainian Defence Minister attended the European Union ministers’ meeting via video link.
Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said before an EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels on May 11: “Greece will not allow military activity to develop in the wider Mediterranean region, particularly in its vicinity.”
“Greece will take all necessary steps to ensure, unequivocally, that the Mediterranean does not become a theatre of military operations,” he added in a statement.
Ukraine has admitted to targeting Russian tankers in the Mediterranean.
In December, Kyiv said it had hit a Russian “shadow fleet” tanker with aerial drones in the Mediterranean, its first strike in that sea since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. AFP