Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias officially confirmed that the sea drone found off the island of Lefkada is Ukrainian, the electronic edition of the Greek newspaper “Proto Thema“ reports, BTA reports.
Dendias participated in the joint meeting of the foreign and defense ministers of the European Union countries in Brussels. Upon his arrival, he said he would inform his European colleagues about the case of the maritime drone found in Greek territorial waters.
“The presence of this maritime drone affects the freedom and security of navigation“, the Greek minister stressed, defining the incident as “an extremely serious issue“.
The Greek Foreign Minister, George Gerapetritis, also commented on the subject yesterday. He said that after the investigation is completed and the technical characteristics of the device are clarified, the Greek government will take the necessary diplomatic action, including sending notes of protest.
On May 7, fishermen from the island of Lefkada in the Ionian Sea discovered a “MAGURA V3“ type maritime drone. The unmanned vessel was equipped with a Starlink satellite communication system and contained three detonators and about 100 kilograms of active explosives. Specialized teams subsequently defused the dangerous cargo.
According to the newspaper “Kathimerini“, Greek authorities are investigating a possible link between the drone and the use of Ukrainian naval drones against the so-called “shadow fleet“ of Russia, through which Moscow circumvents Western sanctions on oil exports.
Similar attacks have already been recorded in the Mediterranean Sea - between Libya and Crete, as well as in the area near Malta.
Investigators are also checking the version that the potential target of the drone was a Russian convoy that passed between Sicily and Malta a few days earlier.