Greece says Ukrainian-built sea drone found off Lefkada is destroyed

Greece says a sea drone found off Lefkada was Ukrainian-built

Greece’s defense minister said Greek authorities have identified a military sea drone discovered last week off the island of Lefkada as Ukrainian-built, warning that the unmanned craft posed risks for shipping and navigation in Mediterranean waters. Nikos Dendias made the comments Tuesday in Brussels at a meeting of European Union defense ministers, describing the incident as “extremely serious,” and saying he planned to raise it with European colleagues and directly with Ukrainian officials.

Dendias told the ministers that Greece now had “certainty” the device was a Ukrainian USV, referring to it as an unmanned surface vehicle. He said the presence of such a drone affects “the freedom of navigation” and also navigation security, framing the issue as broader than a single discovery near the Greek coast.

The drone was first found May 7 inside a coastal cave on Lefkada by a fisherman, who towed it close to a nearby harbor, according to Greece’s public broadcaster ERT. The craft was then moved a day later to a naval base on the Greek mainland for inspection, and the explosives were later destroyed, ERT reported.

Ukrainian authorities did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment, the Associated Press reported. Greece offered no further detailed information about the drone after the discovery, including how it was operating when it was found.

Greek naval experts said the drone’s features resembled Ukrainian Magura-type craft, a platform developed by Ukraine’s intelligence service. The Magura designation has been associated with Ukraine’s use of unmanned surface vehicles in the war, including attacks on Russian naval vessels in the Black Sea and efforts aimed at tankers connected to Russian oil shipments.

Greece also linked the Lefkada incident to the wider pattern of drone-led confrontation between Ukraine and Russia extending to NATO and EU member states. The AP report said the incidents on NATO and EU territory have mostly involved suspected drones entering airspace, alongside concerns that maritime incidents could follow similar trajectories.

At the Brussels meeting, Romanian Defense Minister Radu-Dinel Miruța said the problem was not limited to one country or one waterway. He told ministers it was “a common threat,” adding that it was occurring “on the entire eastern flank.”

Greek officials also described the practical dangers they feared from the discovery. Stefanos Gikas, a Greek deputy minister for maritime affairs, told public television on Monday that the craft appeared to have “suffered some malfunction and was moving in an uncontrolled way,” and said the “black thing without navigation and carrying explosives” could have struck a tourist vessel.

Security officials’ focus on the incident comes as European leaders discuss defense capacity and readiness amid the Russia-Ukraine war. Greece’s Dendias said the episode would be raised with European colleagues and Ukrainian officials directly, linking the Lefkada find to the navigation-security concerns facing countries along key maritime routes.