The Greek authorities are investigating a suspected Ukrainian-made sea drone discovered by local fishermen in a cave on the island of Lefkada, Reuters reported on Friday, citing coast guard and police sources.
The vessel, reportedly a MAGURA V3 kamikaze drone, was found late on Thursday. Preliminary evaluation indicated the boat was fitted with at least three detonators, sources told the agency. One source said the vessel was packed with explosives, but that information has not been confirmed by the Greek military yet.
Bomb disposal experts and military divers were reportedly deployed to the island to dismantle the drone and further examine the site. Investigators are trying to establish the characteristics of the vessel and its purpose, namely whether it was intended to attack Russian maritime traffic in the Mediterranean, a coast guard source said. The vessel could have been a part of a larger drone shipment or could have drifted into Greek waters from elsewhere, a maritime security source told Reuters.
According to the Greek broadsheet Kathimerini, the investigators are also considering a theory that the recovered drone could have been involved in an illicit drug trafficking operation. Given the purported lack of a warhead, the theory appears to be feasible since vessels of the type are capable of covering large distances and are very hard to detect, allowing them to avoid interception by coast guard patrols.
Unverified footage circulating online shows the drone being towed by a patrol boat into a harbor. It appears to be fitted with a Starlink satellite dish, a common practice in the Ukrainian military to ensure stable connection for both naval and aerial long-range drones.
Ukraine has for months targeted Russia’s oil and gas trade by attacking vessels it claims are linked to Moscow. While most incidents have occurred in the Black Sea, several attacks attributed to Kiev have also been reported in the Mediterranean. Moscow has repeatedly branded the strikes on civilian shipping in international waters as “terrorism and maritime piracy.”
In December 2025, Kiev acknowledged striking the Qendil, an Omani-flagged oil tanker, in the eastern Mediterranean off Libya’s coast. Early in March, the Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker Arctic Metagaz was attacked off Malta, suffering extensive damage and ending up abandoned by its crew.