Ukraine has asked New Delhi to release six of its citizens arrested in India last week for allegedly entering a restricted border state without permits, and crossing into neighbouring Myanmar to train anti-junta ethnic groups in drone warfare. Indian authorities arrested the six Ukrainians as well as one U.S. citizen on the night of March 13 at three different airports.
According to a court order from Monday remanding the seven in police custody until a hearing on March 27, they are accused of travelling illegally to India’s northeastern state of Mizoram, crossing into Myanmar, and training anti-junta ethnic armed groups in drone warfare, as well as illegally importing large consignments of drones from Europe to Myanmar via India.
Mizoram borders Myanmar's Chin State and the country has been engulfed in civil war and a humanitarian crisis since its military overthrew the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in a 2021 coup.
The probe of the six Ukrainians and the American is being led by the National Investigation Agency, India's main counter-terrorism body.
In a statement released late on Tuesday, Ukraine's foreign ministry said that there were "no established facts proving the involvement of the said Ukrainian citizens in unlawful activities on the territory of India or Myanmar". Its ambassador to Delhi, Oleksandr Polishchuk, met Sibi George, a senior Indian foreign ministry official, and handed over a note of protest "demanding the immediate release of the Ukrainian citizens and access to them," the statement added. The meeting took place on Monday, according to a spokesperson at the Ukraine embassy in Delhi.
"We draw attention to the fact that there are certain restricted-access zones in India for foreign nationals, entry to which is possible only with special permits," the statement said.
"At the same time, proper marking of such areas on the ground is often absent, which creates a risk of unintentional violation of the established rules."
A U.S. embassy spokesperson said the embassy was aware of the situation but "for privacy reasons, we cannot comment on cases involving U.S. citizens."
The Indian foreign ministry and a Myanmar government spokesperson did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. The Delhi court order did not name the Myanmar-based ethnic armed groups that the group allegedly met.
Citing an investigation update, it said the accused were suspected of offering support to “proscribed Indian insurgent groups by way of supplying weapons and other terrorist hardware and training them, thus affecting national security and interests of India”.
Indian officials have said that militant groups that took refuge in Myanmar and fought in its civil war returned in 2024, fuelling a months-long deadly ethnic conflict in India’s northeastern state of Manipur.
India requires foreigners to obtain entry permits for some northeastern border states that have a history of ethnic tension and security volatility.