Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has issued a formal apology to Greece and accepted responsibility for the Magura naval drone carrying 100 kilograms of explosives that washed ashore on the Ionian island of Lefkada in early May — while framing the incident as a consequence of Russia's aggression rather than Ukrainian negligence, and pledging technical safeguards to prevent a recurrence.
"The Ukrainian side expresses its regret over the incident, emphasizing that it was the result of circumstances created by ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine," the ministry said. Kyiv linked the drone's presence in Greek waters to its naval campaign against Russia's shadow fleet operating in Mediterranean shipping lanes.
The apology follows Greece's formal diplomatic démarche to Kyiv, delivered after Greek military investigators confirmed the drone was of Ukrainian origin.
The Magura-type vessel had been deployed to strike Russian oil tankers before its satellite remote-control system failed near Sicily, leaving it to drift across international waters until fishermen found it in a coastal cave on Lefkada.
Defence Minister Nikos Dendias had called the incident "extremely dangerous," warning the drone could have caused mass casualties had it struck a passenger ferry or cruise ship.
Mr. Dendias raised the matter with EU counterparts and confronted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha directly at a ministers' meeting in Limassol last week.
The apology closes the most acute phase of the diplomatic crisis but leaves open a broader question that Athens has repeatedly raised: whether the deployment of autonomous armed weapons in European waters without prior notification to affected states is compatible with the obligations of allied nations under international maritime law.