Sarantis Michalopoulos | May 29, 2026
Athens is expected to lodge a formal démarche with Kyiv after a sea drone carrying explosives was found near a Greek island, diplomatic sources said
Greece is preparing a formal diplomatic protest to Kyiv after a Ukrainian sea drone carrying explosives was found near a Greek island, while a former Ukrainian prime minister urged Athens to direct its anger at Moscow instead.
The incident has triggered a political backlash in Greece, where officials fear potential damage to the country’s tourism industry.
Giorgos Gerapetritis, Greece’s foreign minister, informed EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas of the incident on Thursday, in a move that further strained already difficult relations between Athens and Kyiv.
Diplomatic sources in Athens said Greece is expected to lodge a formal démarche with Ukraine in the coming days.
The sea drone was discovered by fishermen near the island of Lefkada after apparently suffering a remote-control failure. It was reportedly carrying 100kg of explosives. Greek officials suspect it was intended to target Russia’s shadow fleet operating in the Mediterranean.
Apology from Putin
Athens has warned it will not allow the Mediterranean to become a theatre of military operations. Earlier this month, Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said that “Ukraine owes us a very big apology.”
Kyiv has said it is investigating the incident. But former Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk argued that Greece should seek an apology from Russia rather than Ukraine.
“Greeks need to get an apology from Russia and Putin,” Yatsenyuk told Euractiv on Thursday.
The former Ukrainian leader said that while eastern European countries understood the reality of the war, some elsewhere in the EU continued to view it as distant.
“Putin started this war 12 years ago, and folks believe that they can avoid this kind of war. There is no more distance; we are all under threat,” he said.
The remarks touch on a broader divide within Europe over security priorities. Many Greeks argue that some Eastern European countries do not fully appreciate concerns about Turkish threats to Greece and Cyprus.
“I do understand the concerns of my Baltic friends [regarding Russia], but I also expect them to understand my concerns and to look at Turkey,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told the Financial Times last week.
Yatsenyuk argued that Turkey remains a key pillar of NATO’s security architecture and that relations between Europe and Ankara would become easier to manage once the EU develops a European Defence Union. “But Europe needs to show its own strength,” he said.
Meanwhile, plans for Greece and Ukraine to jointly produce sea drones appear to have stalled after Kyiv reportedly sought a say over how the systems would be deployed in any future military engagement.
Athens interpreted the request as an attempt by Ukraine to preserve flexibility in its relations with Turkey, which remains locked in long-running maritime disputes with Greece.
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