Greece has confirmed that the explosive-laden naval drone found on the island of Lefkada earlier this month is of Ukrainian manufacture and origin
and is filing a formal diplomatic démarche against Kyiv — with Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis confronting his Ukrainian counterpart directly at an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Limassol on Thursday.
Mr. Gerapetritis briefed EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on the findings of the Greek military's technical investigation before meeting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on the sidelines of the Gymnich summit.
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis confirmed in Athens that the prime minister's office has received the classified defence brief.
"The conclusions establish that the vessel is of Ukrainian manufacture and origin," Mr. Marinakis said.
The device has been identified as a long-range Magura V3 naval drone carrying approximately 100 kilograms of military explosives.
Naval investigators tracking its onboard GPS log determined it entered Greek territorial waters from a point near Sicily after its satellite remote-control system failed.
Defence analysts believe it was deployed to strike Russian shadow fleet tankers operating in the Mediterranean.
"No attempt targeting civilian infrastructure or civilian lives can be tolerated under international law," Mr. Gerapetritis said at the summit.
The confirmation closes a three-week investigation and marks a significant diplomatic escalation between Athens and Kyiv — two countries that have broadly aligned on Ukraine's right to defend itself against Russia, but now find themselves at odds over the deployment of autonomous weapons systems in European waters without prior notification to affected states.
Antonis Telopoulos