Greek Military Examining Unmanned Naval Drone Discovered by Fishermen Near Lefkada

Local fishermen found an unmanned naval drone in a cave near the island of Lefkada on Thursday and alerted the coast guard. The Greek coast guard towed the drone to the port of Vasiliki.

The Greek military is examining the unmanned naval drone while the Greek defence ministry oversees the investigation. Greek military experts will attempt to establish the drone's possible purpose. They will also investigate whether the drone entered Greek territorial waters due to a technical failure or loss of communication with its control centre.

Greek media reported that the drone carried explosives. The same reports stated that the drone's engine was still running when discovered.

The BBC approached both Greece's and Ukraine's military for official comment on the drone. BBC News reported that one version under consideration is that the drone could have been prepared against Russia's "shadow fleet," a term that refers to hundreds of tankers transporting Moscow's oil and gas to bypass Western sanctions imposed after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Greece's Ta Nea newspaper says the vessel resembles Ukraine's MAGURA V5 drone, that has been used effectively a number of times.

This claim has not been independently verified. Ukrainian sea drones have revolutionised naval warfare since Moscow's invasion, relentlessly hunting down Russian warships and tankers in the open sea and even at naval bases. In November 2025, Ukraine claimed a naval drone attack against two sanctioned Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea.

Footage verified by the BBC showed waterborne drones speeding through the waves into the vessels, before detonating into a ball of flame, sending black smoke into the air. In March, Moscow accused Ukraine of hitting a sanctioned Russian tanker loaded with liquefied natural gas with "uncrewed sea drones" in the Mediterranean Sea between Libya and Malta.

The Arctic Metagaz tanker was badly damaged and later seen drifting out of control with no crew onboard.

Ukraine's military has not commented on reports that it was responsible for that attack, thousands of miles from Ukraine's coast.