A citizen of the United States, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with six Ukrainians on the charge of illegally crossing into to Myanmar via Mizoram to train armed ethnic groups in weapons handling and drone warfare methods, has been under observation for the past several months, according to sources in the security agencies.
The accused have been identified as U.S. national Matthew Aaron Van Dyke; and Hurba Petro, Slyviak Taras, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Stefankiv Marian, Honcharuk Maksim, and Kaminskyi Viktor from Ukraine. The NIA is examining their digital footprints to establish the identities of other suspected members of the network.
Regime change ambitions
While three of the six Ukrainians were arrested at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, the others were held at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow, all within hours of each other on the night of March 13.
Mr. Van Dyke was picked up on the same night at Kolkata airport. A social media account believed to be linked to him describes him as a “media personality” based in Ukraine. In the posts, he claims to run covert operations in countries including Venezuela to effect regime change. “To the leaders of Venezuela, Burma (Myanmar), Iran and other authoritarian regimes, we are coming for you,” one post said. “Russia, we are coming for you as well,” it added.
A few months ago, the same account posted a message saying the writer was in a conflict zone. He also referred to using Starlink for a Spotify conversation.
A U.S. Embassy spokesperson said that they were “aware of the situation”, but could not comment on cases involving U.S. citizens for privacy reasons.
Seeking consular access
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said that the six Ukrainians had been provided with legal aid and a defence counsel for the court proceedings, but added that “no established facts” proving their involvement in any illegal activity in India or Myanmar had been presented so far. In a statement on Tuesday (March 17, 2026), the Ukrainian MFA suggested that the presence of the accused in a restricted-access zone in the North East may have been an “unintentional violation” .
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Ambassador Oleksandr Polishchuk met with Sibi George, Secretary (West) of the Ministry of External Affairs, and handed over a letter of “protest” as the Embassy had not been allowed to communicate with the Ukrainians in court nor granted consular access.
“Contrary to established international practice, the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of India did not receive any official notification from the competent authorities of India regarding the detention of Ukrainian citizens. The Ukrainian side insists on the immediate provision of unimpeded consular access to the detainees,” the Ukrainian MFA said in a statement, adding that the court had decided to extend the detention of the accused until March 27.
Government officials told The Hindu that procedures were being followed in the case, as the court had given directions and the MEA was “looking into” the Ukrainian request for consular access to the accused.
Charged under UAPA
The accused have been charged under Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. On Monday, they were produced before Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Sharma at Patiala House Court (Delhi), who sent them to 11-day NIA custody. While seeking a 15-day remand, the agency submitted that they had entered India on tourist visas.
The accused later travelled to Mizoram allegedly without obtaining the required Protected Area Permit (PAP), crossed the border to Myanmar, and were allegedly planning to train anti-India ethnic armed groups there.
Mr. Van Dyke was not represented by legal counsel during the hearing. The Ukrainians were represented by advocates Ankur Saigal and Pramod Kumar Dubey, who were engaged through the Ukrainian embassy. The defence lawyers stated that they had not yet been provided with a copy of the FIR or the remand order.
The NIA is investigating the case to unearth the alleged conspiracy involving the accused, who are also suspected to have smuggled drones into Myanmar.
Monitoring foreigners
In December 2024, based on intelligence inputs, the Union Home Ministry had alerted the administration in Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland to keep a close watch on foreigners visiting the States that share a border with Myanmar. The Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) was also asked to monitor their movements and take appropriate legal action, as and when warranted.
A circular was issued to suspend the relaxation that had been provided under the Protected Area Regime (PAR) to the three States since 2010 to facilitate entry of foreigners without a PAP for tourism or other purposes. The regime has been in existence since 1958. The circular stated that all PAP/RAP applications would be processed via the e-FRRO portal only.
In March 2025, Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma had said in the State Assembly: “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.” Commenmting on a steep rise in the number of foreign visitors, he said that though the State had registered close to 2,000 visitors from Western countries between June and December 2024, barely a few foreign tourists were seen in Aizawl.
Published – March 17, 2026 10:39 pm IST
