India’s anti-terrorism agency told a court it has credible information that the six were involved in a drone attack on a civilian plane
Six Ukrainians and an American currently in prison in India were allegedly involved in a drone attack on a civilian aircraft in neighboring Myanmar, India’s anti-terrorism agency told a Delhi court.
The seven, described as mercenaries, were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in March from different cities in India while trying to fly out of the country.
The Indian government “has received credible information indicating the involvement of certain Ukrainian and US nationals in a drone attack on a civilian aircraft in Myanmar,” the agency told a Delhi court on August 19 while seeking to interrogate two from the group – Ukrainian Viktor Kaminskyi and American Matthew VanDyke – in prison.
The court granted the agency permission for the interrogation. The details of the court filings were reported by the Indian Express on Friday.
The agency said 14 Ukrainians entered India on tourist visas on different dates and flew to Guwahati in the northeastern state of Assam, where they traveled to the state of Mizoram without the required permits, and entered Myanmar illegally to conduct a “pre-scheduled training on drone warfare, drone operations, assembly, and jamming technology” for ethnic armed groups fighting the military government.
Burmese news outlets reported that a drone struck an ATR-72-600 aircraft of Myanmar National Airlines, which was preparing to depart from Myitkyina Airport to Mandalay, on February 20. The plane, which carried passengers at the time of the attack, suffered damage to its nose, mid-fuselage, and tail sections. It is not clear if the NIA was referring to the same attack.
The drone was a first-person view drone (FPV) of the type that is widely used in the Ukrainian conflict. The mercenaries were arrested on March 13 after they crossed back into India.
The NIA said many of the ethnic armed groups in Myanmar are also known to support certain banned Indian insurgent groups with weapons, military hardware, and training.
The agency earlier claimed it found that several consignments of drones from Europe were delivered by the accused to individuals and groups in Mizoram. The arrested mercenaries also allegedly confessed that they were in contact with and helped in the activities of “unknown terrorists carrying AK47 rifles.”
The agency said it wants to confront Kaminskyi and VanDyke with certain witness statements to “unearth the larger conspiracy” in the case, details of the other suspects, and the masterminds of the operation.
It said data extracted from devices seized from them contained images, videos, voice samples, among other things, which have to be corroborated with direct questioning.
Soon after their arrest, Ukraine rejected “any insinuations regarding the possible involvement of the Ukrainian State in supporting terrorist activities” and demanded that India release its nationals.
VanDyke, the American, is the founder of Sons of Liberty International, which provides military training in conflict zones. He has reportedly been involved in other conflicts, including fighting with Libyan rebels in 2011.
The court in July allowed him special food items and a cook after he complained that the “spicy and oily” prison meals affected his health, but it rejected his request for treatment at a private hospital, and to communicate with his family in the US.
