India Arrests US and Ukrainian Nationals for Allegedly Training Armed Groups in Myanmar

New Delhi. India has arrested six Ukrainian nationals and one American citizen on allegations of entering India's northeastern region without permission, proceeding to neighboring Myanmar, and providing drone warfare training to armed groups. Indian police apprehended these foreign nationals on March 13 from three separate airports across the country.

According to Indian media, the American citizen was detained by the Bureau of Immigration at Kolkata airport, three Ukrainians in Lucknow, and the other three in Delhi. It is unclear whether they were traveling to Myanmar or returning from there.

India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) has charged them under the country's anti-terrorism laws, and they will remain in custody until March 27. Local police also arrested two additional American tourists on Saturday for flying a drone near the Coast Guard headquarters in the southern city of Kochi.

Kochi is the same location where India has been sheltering the sailors of an Iranian vessel that participated in a naval exercise last February. Another Iranian ship hosted by India was destroyed by a US torpedo strike early in the war, causing embarrassment to New Delhi and resulting in the deaths of dozens of Iranian sailors.

Why were these Americans and Ukrainians arrested? What does this mean for India's relations with Myanmar, Ukraine, and the US?

• Who has been arrested?

According to Indian media, the seven foreign nationals arrested by the NIA include Matthew Aaron VanDyke from the US, and from Ukraine: Hurba Petro, Sliviak Taras, Ivan Sukmanovsky, Stefankiv Maryan, Honcharuk Maksym, and Kaminsky Victor.

According to VanDyke's personal website, he participated in the Iraq War and the Libyan Civil War. He is the founder of a consulting company called Sons of Liberty International, based in Washington D.C.

As stated on the company's website, it provides free security consultation and training services to enable vulnerable communities to defend themselves against terrorist and insurgent groups. The company also operated in Ukraine between 2022 and 2023, where it provided training and advice to the Ukrainian army on the use of non-lethal equipment.

Not much information is available about the arrested Ukrainian nationals. The NIA has not disclosed when these foreign nationals entered India or when they reached Myanmar.

The two American tourists arrested in Kochi have been identified as 32-year-old Katie Michelle Phelps from California and 35-year-old Christopher Ross Harvey.

• Why did India arrest the suspects in the Myanmar case?

The seven were initially taken into custody by the NIA on charges of entering the northeastern state of Mizoram without valid permits and illegally crossing into Myanmar from there. This is not the first time foreign nationals have been arrested for entering the northeastern states bordering Myanmar, which span about 1,640 kilometers. In April 2025, police in Mizoram arrested a Belgian photojournalist for entering the state without valid travel documents and then going to Myanmar.

On March 16, the NIA told a New Delhi court that the seven foreign nationals had gone there to train armed groups fighting against the military government of Myanmar in drone warfare.

According to The Indian Express daily, the NIA stated that the accused were involved in illegally importing large quantities of drones from Europe to Myanmar via India for use by ethnic armed groups. The agency also alleged that these groups were aiding Indian insurgent groups by supplying arms and providing training in terrorist activities.

Northeastern Indian states like Mizoram and Manipur, which border China State in northern Myanmar, have histories filled with ethnic tensions. Ethnic groups from these states, such as the Kuki National Army (KNA) in Manipur, are also active in Myanmar and are actively fighting against the military government there.

Therefore, especially after the military 'coup' in 2021, India has mandated that foreigners must obtain special permission before entering some of its northeastern states bordering Myanmar.

Anshuman Chaudhary, an expert on political and security affairs in the India-Myanmar border region, told Al Jazeera that the Indian government views the India-Myanmar border as a major risk, especially because it is unfenced.

'Technically, anyone crossing the border under the Free Movement Regime (FMR) without a valid visa or permit can face legal action. Surveillance is particularly high for foreign journalists,' he said.

He clarified that India would not view foreigners entering Myanmar from India to report on the conflict there or support the resistance forces there as a direct threat to its own security interests. 'These forces have little concern with India and are fighting their own war against the Myanmar military government,' Chaudhary noted, 'But the Indian state views their use of Indian territory to reach rebel-controlled areas as a violation of its sovereignty and a security risk. The perception of this threat is heightened by concerns that their support for Myanmar's resistance forces could indirectly strengthen India-opposed insurgents, although evidence for this is scarce.'

• Why was Ukraine dragged into this?

In recent years, Ukraine has deepened its ties with India, but human rights groups have also accused it of supporting Myanmar's military government. Conversely, six Ukrainians have been arrested for allegedly supporting armed groups opposing the government.

In September 2021, a few months after the military coup, Justice for Myanmar, a group working on human rights violations in Myanmar, accused Ukraine of supporting the Myanmar military through arms exports and technology transfer.

However, in a statement on March 19, Ukraine denied 'any allegations regarding the potential involvement of the Ukrainian state in supporting terrorist activities' and urged India to release its citizens.

The statement from Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, 'Ukraine is a state that suffers daily from Russian terror, and for this reason, it takes a principled and uncompromising stance against all forms of terrorism.'

'We also want to emphasize that Ukraine has no interest in any activity that could pose a threat to India's security... Rather, it is Russia that, as an aggressor state, tries to sow discord between allied nations—Ukraine and India—in every situation,' the Ministry of Foreign Affairs added.

Media reports have indicated that Russia may have a hand in these arrests.

NIA officials told Germany's international broadcaster DW News that it is possible Russian officials shared intelligence regarding the activities of the foreign nationals.

Chaudhary told Al Jazeera that this seems logical given Russia's growing ties with the military government of Myanmar. 'From Moscow's perspective, exposing the presence of Ukrainian drone experts in the India-Myanmar border region also confirms the Russian narrative that 'Kyiv is contributing to further destabilizing volatile regions around the world.' This could turn global public opinion against Ukraine and its Western allies like the US,' he said.

Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, accused Ukraine of trying 'to conceal this incident and keep secret the suspicious activities of its citizens clearly designed to destabilize the situation in the region.'

In a statement on March 20, Zakharova said, 'This incident clearly shows that the neo-Nazi regime of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has become a major center for exporting instability globally.'

Meanwhile, the US has not yet commented on the arrest of its citizen. A US Embassy spokesperson told Reuters news agency that the US Embassy in India is aware of the arrest but cannot comment due to privacy reasons.

• Why were the American tourists arrested in Kochi?

The city of Kochi in the southern Indian state of Kerala is a center for sensitive Indian Navy and Coast Guard facilities.

The area near the headquarters where the American tourists allegedly flew a drone is described by officials as a 'Red Zone' (sensitive area) where flying drones is strictly prohibited.

However, these arrests also come at a time when Kochi is hosting more than 180 crew members of the Iranian warship IRIN Lavan. It was given emergency docking permission in early March after the US-Israel war began in Iran.

Another Iranian warship, IRIN Dena, was attacked by a US submarine in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka early in the war. That ship was returning home from a naval exercise hosted by India. IRIN Lavan was also part of the same exercise.

What do these arrests mean for India's relations with the US, Ukraine, and Myanmar?

According to Chaudhary, these arrests could help strengthen the trust between New Delhi and the Myanmar government in Naypyidaw, especially given that the Myanmar government is facing increasing military challenges from resistance forces in the border areas.

However, he predicted that in the short term, these arrests could adversely affect India-Ukraine relations. 'Both sides will rely on back channels to manage this issue—especially Ukraine cannot risk antagonizing India at this juncture,' Chaudhary believes.

He predicted that this incident would not seriously affect relations between India and the US, as Matthew VanDyke's connection with the current US administration is not clear.

'Washington D.C. may not consider him a figure important enough to jeopardize bilateral relations with New Delhi. India-US relations are already somewhat strained but appear to be gradually returning to normal,' he said.