Overview
- A Delhi court granted the National Investigation Agency 11 days of custody, remanding the seven accused until March 27 under Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
- The NIA identified the detainees as U.S. national Matthew Aaron Van Dyke and Ukrainians Hurba Petro, Slyviak Taras, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Stefankiv Marian, Honcharuk Maksim and Kaminskyi Viktor, arrested at airports in Kolkata, Lucknow and Delhi.
- According to NIA filings, the group entered Mizoram without required Restricted/Protected Area Permits, crossed into Myanmar for pre‑scheduled training with ethnic armed groups, and routed multiple drone consignments from Europe via India to Myanmar.
- The agency told the court it is pursuing a wider network, sending seized phones to CERT-In for forensic extraction, tracing routes and funding, and seeking to identify additional associates and any masterminds.
- Ukraine has formally protested the detentions, requesting immediate release and consular access while disputing any established proof of wrongdoing; the U.S. Embassy acknowledged awareness but declined comment citing privacy rules.