Greece says military drone found in sea is Ukrainian

A subject oversea drone recovered past week disconnected the Greek land of Lefkada is Ukrainian and posed a menace to navigation, Greece’s defence curate said Tuesday.

Nikos Dendias, successful Brussels for a ministers meeting, said helium had briefed European counterparts connected the “drone that we fished successful Greece” connected Thursday, adding that “we person certainty” that it was of Ukrainian origin.

Dendias said it was an “extremely superior issue” that affected the state and information of navigation.

Ukraine’s overseas ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhy said Kyiv had “no accusation whatsoever” astir the drone.

“There is nary grounds astatine each that it belongs to Ukrainian maritime drone operators,” helium said.

“We are unfastened to cooperating with the Greek broadside to clarify the circumstances of the incidental if we person due requests from them.”

The Greek coastguard connected Friday said it had initially taken custody of the oversea drone aft it was recovered by fishermen and towed to a Lefkada port, earlier handing it implicit to the equipped forces.

A Greek subject source told AFP implicit the weekend that service and navy experts had recovered explosives connected board.

Officials had earlier said the unmanned surface vehicle resembled a Magura-class oversea drone used by Ukraine’s equipped forces against Russian ships successful the Crimea.

Dendias said connected Tuesday helium had told his colleagues astir the drone during an EU ministers meeting, which Ukraine’s defence curate was taking portion successful via videolink.

Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said connected Monday his state would not let “military enactment to make successful the wider Mediterranean region”.

“Greece will take each indispensable steps to ensure, unequivocally, that the Mediterranean does not go a theatre of subject operations,” helium said successful a statement.

Ukraine has admitted to targeting Russian tankers successful the Mediterranean.

In December, Kyiv said it had deed a Russian “shadow fleet” tanker with aerial drones successful the Mediterranean, its archetypal strike successful that oversea since Russia’s full-scale penetration of Ukraine successful February 2022.

Source: AFP