ATHENS, Greece — Greek defense officials confirmed Tuesday that an explosive-laden military drone discovered on a Mediterranean island last week was manufactured in Ukraine, with authorities describing the situation as an “extremely serious” threat to regional maritime safety.
The unmanned watercraft was located by a fisherman inside a coastal cave on Lefkada island on May 7, who then pulled it toward a nearby harbor. Greek naval forces transported the device to a mainland military facility the following day for examination before safely disposing of the explosives, according to Greece’s state broadcaster ERT.
“We have certainty now that it is a Ukrainian USV,” stated Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias, using the military term for unmanned surface vehicle.
Ukrainian officials have not yet responded to requests for comment on the matter.
Speaking to European Union defense ministers during a Brussels meeting, Dendias indicated he would address the matter with both his European counterparts and Ukrainian leadership directly.
“You understand that the presence of that USV — the drone, the sea drone — affects the freedom of navigation and affects also the security of navigation,” Dendias explained. “This is an extremely serious issue.”
Ukrainian forces have deployed similar waterborne drones against Russian naval targets in the Black Sea region, recently expanding operations to target oil transport vessels as part of efforts to disrupt Moscow’s energy export capabilities.
While Greek officials provided limited additional information about the drone’s specifications, naval specialists noted similarities to Ukraine’s Magura-class vessels — a design created by Ukrainian intelligence services.
The island of Lefkada sits along a heavily trafficked shipping route connecting Greece and Italy, frequented by tourist vessels, commercial ferries, and cargo ships.
“It appears that the (drone) suffered some malfunction and was moving in an uncontrolled way,” explained Stefanos Gikas, Greece’s deputy maritime affairs minister, during a Monday television interview. “So this craft — a black thing without navigation and carrying explosives — could have struck a tourist vessel.”
The escalating drone warfare between Ukrainian and Russian forces has resulted in numerous incidents affecting NATO and European Union territories, primarily involving suspected Russian drones violating member nation airspace.
“They are violating our airspace. And it’s very clear that inside the European Union we should rearrange our capacities, our capabilities, in order to decrease this type of violations,” Romanian Defense Minister Radu-Dinel Miruța told reporters in Brussels Tuesday.
“It is very important to understand that this is a common threat,” he added. “It is happening on the entire eastern flank.”
