NIA Arrests US National Matthew VanDyke, 6 Ukrainians: Story Behind Drone Warfare Training | Exclusive

Last Updated:March 18, 2026, 14:01 IST

US national Matthew Aaron VanDyke, arrested in Kolkata, led the Ukrainian ex-military group using the Mizoram corridor for drone warfare training, illegal border crossings

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has busted foreign network under which US national Matthew Aaron VanDyke and six Ukrainians who trained Myanmar rebels via India route.

According to the NIA, the US national, arrested in Kolkata, led the Ukrainian ex-military group using the Mizoram corridor for drone warfare training, illegal border crossings.

News18 gets you the inside story of the arrest.

Who is Matthew Aaron VanDyke? The six Ukrainians arrested

Matthew Aaron VanDyke, 46, a Baltimore-born, Georgetown Security Studies graduate, is not an accused for the first time. He failed a CIA polygraph years ago, was arrested and detained 20 times by Iraqi forces from 2008-10. He fought and was imprisoned in Gaddafi’s Libya 2011 and escaped after 6 months in solitary confinement.

He made award-winning documentary, Point and Shoot, and advised Syrian rebels, and founded Sons of Liberty International (SOLI). SOLI a non-profit that openly provides free military training to anti-authoritarian/anti-terror groups worldwide. Since 2022, he has been in Ukraine.

The six arrested accused, Hurba Petro, Slyviak Taras, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Stefankiv Marian, Honcharuk Maksim, Kaminskyi Viktor, all Ukrainian nationals, were part of a larger group of 14–15 Ukrainians who entered India separately on tourist visas over weeks/months.

Three of the Ukrainians were detained in Lucknow and three in Delhi. All seven were produced before the Patiala House Court, which granted 11 days of NIA custody for further investigation.

All you need to know about the network: What intelligence sources say

1. The network operated through India’s eastern where ideological volunteers, ex-military expertise, and covert logistics met and decided on major plan, said sources.

2. “The presence of Matthew Aaron VanDyke indicates that it was a non-state actor model, not formally state-backed. This person is capable of delivering military-grade training and coordination across borders," said sources.

3. Operationally, the corridor of Guwahati and Mizoram and Chin State (Myanmar) highlights a classic exploitation of porous borders and weak permit enforcement. The use of drones, jamming tech, and modular equipment suggests a shift from traditional insurgency support to next-gen asymmetric warfare, they said.

4. The most sensitive dimension is blowback risk where groups trained in Myanmar overlap with networks that traffic arms and technology across the Northeast.

What was their objective?

The current objective was anti-junta support and such capabilities can easily enter into India’s internal insurgent ecosystem, said sources.

NIA sources told CNN-News18 that VanDyke brought Ukrainian ex-military contacts into this new theatre.

“They flew into Guwahati, then moved to Mizoram without Restricted Area Permits. Once in southern Mizoram districts, they illegally crossed the unfenced and porous border into Myanmar’s Chin State. There they conducted multiple pre-scheduled training sessions for Ethnic Armed Organisations fighting the Myanmar junta. The training focused on drone warfare and operations, assembly, jamming tech, plus basic weapons handling," said sources.

The NIA said the accused themselves admitted during initial questioning they were in direct touch and abetted by unknown terrorists carrying AK-47s.

The most sensitive part is the group illegally imported large consignments of drones and related equipment from Europe. They routed them through Indian territory Mizoram into Myanmar. These were not just for anti-junta use and NIA alleged the EAOs they trained are known to supply weapons, hardware. They were in Intelligence agencies under surveillance for several months. The foreigners were picked up precisely when they tried to exit India, said sources.

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