Athens ‘certain’ sea drone is Ukrainian

The Ukrainian-made drone is astatine the Skaramagas naval base, where it is undergoing technical analysis. This photograph shows the device's warhead, featuring specialized front-end curvatures designed to nonstop the blast wave and maximize impact.

Defense Minister Nikos Dendias, speaking astatine a gathering with his EU colleagues, said Tuesday helium was “certain” the unmanned explosives-laden oversea vessel recovered past Thursday disconnected the seashore of the land of Lefkada successful western Greece was Ukrainian.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who was taking portion successful the gathering via online link, claimed ignorance but promised to analyse and travel backmost with answers.

Fedorov’s stance came arsenic nary surprise. Dendias, for his part, said that Greece had present established with certainty that “the unmanned surface vessel” we retrieved … is Ukrainian.”

Dendias besides echoed statements made by Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis Monday, declaring that broadening the war against Russia to the Mediterranean is simply a unsafe development.

“The beingness of this USV, the oversea drone, affects the liberty (and) information of shipping. It is an highly superior issue.”

The Ukrainian oversea drone, dubbed arsenic akin to Magura-class vessels but still different, remains astatine Skaramangas Shipyard, west of Athens, where experts will try to ascertain its itinerary and technical specifications. This reverse engineering aims little astatine uncovering immoderate technical secrets than uncovering retired however the vessel ended successful Greece.

Defense Ministry officials told Kathimerini that, when the valuation of the vessel ends, it will guardant the record to the Coast Guard and they, successful turn, to judicial authorities.

The aforesaid officials responded to disapproval from absorption parties that authorities had failed to find the vessel, which was recovered by fishermen, saying that it would beryllium arsenic hard for the Coast Guard to find the vessel arsenic to find a small pleasance boat.

Also, the Greek Navy maintains a reduced beingness successful the Ionian Sea, with the overwhelming bulk of its resources successful the Aegean Sea, where the top information to Greece – from nominal state Turkey – lurks.

The bigger representation concerns however this occurrence will impact Greece’s relations with Kyiv. Athens has supported Kyiv from the start of the Russian penetration connected the rule of the inviolability of borders, whatever the differences. It has provided recognition and subject hardware done third parties.

The EU is determined not to fto such episodes to obscure the much important contented connected however to support Ukraine supplied with resources successful the coming months.