Guwahati: American national Matthew Aaron VanDyke, who spent more than six months in Tihar Jail in an NIA case involving alleged weapons and drone training of Myanmar-based armed groups, has claimed on X that his arrest, along with that of six Ukrainians, was linked to Russia’s war against Ukraine.“India threw me and several Ukrainians in prison for over six months. This was part of Russia’s war against Ukraine. I will reveal shocking details about this story over the next few months in both posts and media interviews,” VanDyke posted on X.He added, “Even the Indian govt has admitted that we were only passing through the northeast on our way to Myanmar and back, and did nothing in the northeast or against India.”The NIA arrested VanDyke at Kolkata airport on March 13 and the six Ukrainians at airports in Delhi and Lucknow after they returned from Myanmar via Mizoram. The agency alleged that the group travelled to Mizoram without the required Protected Area Permit, crossed into Myanmar and trained ethnic armed groups in weapons handling and drone warfare.All seven were initially booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. However, in its Sept chargesheet, the NIA charged VanDyke and the six Ukrainians under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, while keeping its UAPA investigation open.A Delhi court granted VanDyke and the six Ukrainians bail and allowed them to travel to their home countries for a month. VanDyke appeared in person at the Rouse Avenue court on Oct 23. The six Ukrainians joined the hearing by video conference, citing health problems. They have to appear again on Feb 24, 2027.VanDyke leads Sons of Liberty International, a US-based organisation that says on its website it provides security consulting, training and weapons supplies “to vulnerable populations to enable them to defend themselves against terrorists and insurgents”.VanDyke said on X the Indian govt never accused him of acting against India, of smuggling arms or of training separatists. He said he runs a charity whose missions are free, that he spent his own money on the Myanmar trip and that he is “certainly not a mercenary”.In follow-up replies on X, VanDyke said he would be back in India for court in Feb, “just as I returned in October”. He also rejected suggestions that US govt pressure secured his release.Before his bail, his family had sought US diplomatic intervention on grounds that “he is presently still denied basic detainee rights, and is being kept in solitary confinement at Tihar Jail” and he faced “inhumane treatment and abuse in prison, with severely restricted communication.”In a post on X on Aug 25, the account of VanDyke marked Ukraine’s Independence Day and the anniversary of his Aug 24, 2011 escape from a Libyan prison. The post said he was wounded and captured in the Libyan war and held as a prisoner of war for nearly six months. It claimed he was now being “wrongfully detained” in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, with “all basic detainee rights denied” since March 11, 2026.
