India arrests Ukrainian and US mercenaries: What we know so far

2026-03-17 - 20:10

New Delhi’s anti-terror agency has taken custody of seven people for allegedly training and supplying weapons to insurgents in Myanmar Six Ukrainians and a US citizen were taken into custody by India’s anti-terror agency on Friday, March 13, for their alleged links with insurgents in Myanmar and subversive activities in India’s northeast region, bordering Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Bangladesh. On Monday, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court at Patiala House Courts in Delhi ordered their detention until March 27 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), which punishes conspiracy, advocacy, abetment, or facilitation of a terrorist act or any preparatory act, according to the ANI news agency. #WATCH | Special NIA Court at Patiala House Court remanded 6 foreigners in 11 days of National Investigation Agency (NIA) custody. They were produced before the NIA court. It is alleged that they came to India on a visa and then entered Mizoram, which is a protected area.... pic.twitter.com/s7bXItPLTx — ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2026 What does the probe claim? The NIA probe, according to documents seen by RT India, focuses on the illegal entry of the individuals to the Indian state of Mizoram, where foreign nationals are required to obtain a special permit, as well as illegal crossing into Myanmar “with the intention of carrying out a pre-scheduled training for Myanmar-based Ethnic Armed Groups (EAGs).” These insurgent groups are reportedly linked to rebel outfits in India’s northeast region, which has been marred by violence for decades, but particularly in recent years. For instance, the state of Manipur has been in the headlines since 2023 after deadly ethnic clashes killed hundreds and displaced thousands. The NIA has also reportedly found evidence suggesting that multiple consignments of drones from Europe were delivered by the accused persons to individuals and groups in Mizoram. According to Indian Express, the NIA submitted before the court that the accused disclosed during interrogation that they were in “direct touch and abetted in their terrorist illegal activities by unknown terrorists carrying AK47 rifles.” According to excerpts of the First Information Report (FIR) obtained by RT, the security agencies are also examining the phones of the detained “to unearth the conspiracy which was being hatched by accursed persons to use local ethnic groups of India to hamper national security of India.” What do we know about the arrested foreigners? While New Delhi is yet to issue any official statement on the arrests, documents obtained by RT reveal the names, nationalities, and locations of the arrested by the NIA. They have been identified as: Matthew Aaron VanDyke (US citizen) Petro Hurba (Ukrainian citizen) Taras Slyviak (Ukrainian citizen) Ivan Sukmanovskyi (Ukrainian citizen) Marian Stefankiv (Ukrainian citizen) Maksim Honcharuk (Ukrainian citizen) Viktor Kaminskyi (Ukrainian citizen) ❗️RT INDIA EXCLUSIVE - NAMED: American & Ukrainian Nationals Arrested For Alleged 'Terror Training' In Myanmar The American named, Matthew VanDyke, has appeared in at least two films - one about his activities in Libya, and another about his 'security' firm, Sons of Liberty... https://t.co/68tmeaRBtI pic.twitter.com/pf5v8mfK4z — RT_India (@RT_India_news) March 17, 2026 How the arrests took place? Of the six Ukrainians in the custody of the anti-terror agency, three were detained at the Delhi airport. The other three were nabbed by NIA agents at the airport in the northern city of Lucknow. The US citizen was detained at an airport in Kolkata, the West Bengal state that is a key gateway to North Indian states. All of the arrests took place on March 13, between 8 pm and midnight IST. This indicates that the intelligence agencies were on the trail of the suspects after gathering significant inputs, likely from Interpol or with foreign assistance or the help of foreign intelligence agencies. Who is American mercenary Matthew VanDyke? The US national, Matthew VanDyke, seems to relish the social media limelight. While the NIA is looking into a larger conspiracy, his name stands out. Believed to be a former US soldier, VanDyke previously appeared on the frontlines of the Libyan and later the Syrian conflicts. The US mercenary’s X handle claims he fought in Libya and Ukraine and has run covert operations with a Venezuelan rebel commander since 2019. It also proclaims “FREE IRAN,” while offering little in the way of details. The political statements on his X page also reveal a streak of right-wing affiliation, though there is not much credible evidence on this count. VanDyke’s descriptor on his YouTube channel has a dash of a mercenary streak, laced with a camouflaged sprinkling of democratic aura by proclaiming that he is “preparing for an independent mission to Iraq during which he’ll train Iraqis to fight back against the Islamic State.” He claims that he is the founder of Sons of Liberty International (SOLI), a security firm that advises, trains, and supplies vulnerable populations to defend themselves against terrorists. A video titled ‘The Freedom Fighter’ shows men in camouflage undergoing armed training. Another video, titled ‘Point and Shoot’, claims it is the official trailer for an award-winning film about the Libyan Revolution. In one X post, VanDyke mentions his “friend” Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, a US transgender woman and ex-head of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense’s English-language propaganda. VanDyke’s self-proclaimed claim to fame is his participation in the Libyan civil war as a foreign mercenary in the uprising against the late Muammar Gaddafi. Filmmaker, armed combatant, and rebel fighter are his other “illustrious” self-proclaimed roles. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, according to his Wikipedia page. In 2004, he claims to have graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service with a master’s degree in security studies “with a Middle East concentration.” Why is the NIA probe significant? According to court documents, as cited by the media, the arrested Ukrainian national is part of larger group of 14 Ukrainians that had entered India on tourist visas on separate dates, and had flown to Guwahati, a capital of Assam state in India’s northeast, and a key hub in the region. It is not immediately clear whether VanDyke is part of the group of Ukrainians or had any links with them. The NIA probe is likely to focus on those links, as well as pursue how the accused entered India and also restricted areas without the appropriate scrutiny. Mizoram’s chief minister, Lalduhoma, alleged in 2025 that “thousands” of Western mercenaries linked to Kiev had crossed over to Myanmar via the state. “We have specific intelligence that the Ukraine war veterans travelled to Myanmar’s Chin State via Mizoram to train rebel outfits fighting the military junta,” Lalduhoma told the local assembly. He suggested that Mizoram was being used to cross into neighboring Myanmar to train militants and supply them with weapons after rules for obtaining special permissions to visit the state were relaxed in 2011 to boost tourism. The inflow of potential foreign mercenaries prompted the the Protected Area Permit to be reimposed in the state, local media reported. The chief minister of the neighboring state of Manipur, N Biren Singh, in 2024 also suggested that authorities suspected the involvement of foreign mercenaries in the violence in the state, referring to combat forces linked to Myanmar. During that time, New Delhi announced it would be building a fence along the entire 1,643 kilometer (1,020-mile) long porous border with Myanmar. How did Ukraine respond? The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry lodged an official protest with New Delhi on Tuesday, demanding the immediate release of its citizens and access to them. The ministry claimed there were no “established facts proving the involvement of the said Ukrainian citizens in unlawful activities on the territory of India or Myanmar.” It also accused Indian and Russian media of publishing “distorted interpretations of the available facts.” According to the statement, the Ukrainian diplomatic mission in Delhi did not receive any official notification from the Indian authorities regarding the detention of Ukrainian citizens and consular access to the detainees was not provided. Kiev also pointed out that certain restricted-access zones in India for foreign nationals, entry to which is possible only with special permits, are not properly marked, which creates a risk of unintentional violations.