Days after six Ukrainian and an American mercenary were arrested by the National Investigation Agency for allegedly providing arms and training to ethnic insurgent groups in Myanmar, it has emerged that the arrest may have resulted from a Russian intelligence tip-off.
Citing Indian intelligence sources, media reports say that Russia may have assisted India in nabbing American mercenary Matthew VanDyke and six Ukrainians (Hurba Petro, Slyviak Taras, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Stefankiv Marian, Honcharuk Maksim, and Kaminskyi Viktor). However, the details of the extent of Russian assistance remain undisclosed.
According to the NIA, VanDyke and the other arrested accused persons were supplying drones and jamming equipment and imparting training to ethnic groups in Myanmar since 2024.
The NIA teams were active in the Northeast for at least three months to track VanDyke and others. The arrested foreign nationals have been booked under Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for criminal conspiracy to commit illegal or terrorist acts.
