Greece demands ʼhuge apologyʼ from Ukraine for naval drone incident

Greece is demanding an apology from Ukraine over an incident involving a naval drone believed to be Ukrainian. The countryʼs Defense Minister Nikos Dendias believes the drone threatened civilian shipping and could have resulted in casualties.

CNN Greece writes about this.

According to Dendias, “there is no doubt that this is a Ukrainian naval drone”. He added that Greece knows the type of drone, where it was manufactured, and what it did.

“If any cruise ship were heading from Venice to the Eastern Mediterranean, if it were to take this route, it would go to the bottom of the sea. [...] How many dead would we mourn? And how acceptable is that in the Mediterranean?” he said.

The minister added that Ukraine "owes us a huge apology", as well as a full guarantee that something like this will never happen again in this region.

A spokeswoman for the Greek Foreign Ministry clarified that Athens is awaiting official conclusions from the General Staff of the Armed Forces before taking any official measures.

"After receiving official conclusions from the General Staff of the Armed Forces to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we will take the necessary measures and make official demarches at the bilateral and international levels," she emphasized.

• Earlier this month, a naval drone was found off the island of Lefkada in the Ionian Sea. Greece insists it is Ukrainian. At first, the country claimed it was a “Magura V5”, then a Mamai. Ukraine has not officially confirmed that it is its drone, but has promised to investigate the incident.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.