“Is Lefkada still Greek?” Locals wondering after MoD’s claim Ukrainian “drone was in international waters”

The claim of the National Defense Minister that the Ukrainian USV drone was “fished in international waters,” have Greeks wondering whether the island of Lefkada in the Ionian Sea was still part of Greece. On Monday, government officials tried to fix the things..

Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis announced on Monday that he would inform his European counterparts regarding the presence of an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) in the Ionian Sea.

Speaking to reporters upon his arrival at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Gerapetritis noted that this is a “particularly serious development.”

He stressed that “the investigation into the incident by the General Staff is currently underway. When the investigation is completed and the necessary technical features are understood, there will be a reaction from the Greek government with the necessary steps.”

He pointed out that “Greece will not allow military actions to unfold in the wider Mediterranean region, and especially not in the areas towards Greece,” underlining that the country “will take all necessary steps to ensure that the Mediterranean does not become a theater of military operations.”

Gerapetritis statements contradict the claims of the National Defence Minister, Nikos Dendias, who cheerfully and relaxed told members and supporters of ruling New Democracy on Saturday that “a drone of a foreign country was fished
outside Greek territorial waters.”

Τη χάσαμε τη Λευκάδα πατριώτ'…
Εσείς το ξέρατε ότι η Λευκάδα είναι σε ξένα χωρικά ύδατα;
Προκειμένου να μην δυσαρεστήσουν τον Ζελένσκι είναι ικανοί να πουν ότι τα Τζουμέρκα ανήκουν στα Καρπάθια! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/WNZkMnypHN

— Δραχμαντινετζάντ (@giopsos) May 9, 2026

Η @govgr δια του @pavlmarin σχετικά με τη δήλωση του @NikosDendias ότι το drone στη Λευκάδα βρέθηκε εκτός ελληνικών χωρικών υδάτων 🤡 pic.twitter.com/8T7CVT3vTp

— Chaca-Khan 🦋 (@chacakhan) May 11, 2026

At the press briefing on Monday, government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis was asked about Dendias’ statement and said after a long search into his notes:

“It is obvious that the National Defence Minister was referring to the origin of the maritime drone, that is that it came from a spot in the international waters. Some isolated his sentence to create impressions.” He recalled that the Mitsotakis government expanded territorial waters to 12 nautical miles in the Ionian Sea.

It is recalled that the USV drone, identified as Ukranian made Magura 5 was discovered in a cave south of the island of Lefkada by fishermen and was loaded with 70 to 300 kg of explosives.

Που λετε παιδια, αυτη η σπηλια ειναι εκτος ελληνικων χωρικων υδατων. Ο φαρος απο πανω, δεν ξερουμε σε ποιον ανηκει. #Λευκάδα pic.twitter.com/o0cApr7uJJ

— Oberon 2 🍉 (@oberon_new) May 10, 2026

PS Over the weekend and after Dendias’ statements, Greeks on social media were wondering since when the island of Lefkada was “ousted” from Greece, asking whether they would need a passport to travel there…

Me, on my part I’m afraid that we’ll soon need translation from Greek into Greek to understand what politicians say and what they really mean.