Khaing Lu Hla (Roma Mray) — The Arakan Army (AA) has officially denied any connection with  one American and six Ukrainian nationals, who were recently arrested by the Indian authorities for entering western Myanmar from Mizoram in northeast India.

AA spokesperson U Khaing Thukha informed  Narinjara that the allegation linking them with the detainees is baseless.

“Regarding the arrest of these seven individuals in India, some media outlets, particularly Indian newspapers have been reporting wrongly that our organization is associated with them. This matter has nothing to do with us and there is no connection whatsoever,” asserted Khaing Thukha.

A report in The Pioneer, published  from Delhi on 23 March 2026, claimed that the Indian federal government charged the group for transferring drones and combat technology to the AA along with Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and  Chin National Army/Chin Defence Force (CNA/CDF).

The detained American citizen has been identified as Matthew VanDyke, whereas Ukrainian nationals include Maksym Honcharuk, Petro Hubra, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Marian Stefankiv, Taras Slyviak, and Viktor Kaminskyi.

According to the media report, the detainees confessed to National Investigation Agency officials that they trained some Myanmar-based ethnic armed groups. They are also accused of smuggling drones and signal jammers from Europe to Myanmar through India.

The Indian government stated that  the group conducted a specialized training in drone assembly, combat operations, and counter-terrorism tactics for the rebel groups fighting against the military junta.

The suspects were apprehended at various airports including Lucknow, New Delhi and Kolkata, while attempting to flee the country. They were  held by the NIA for interrogation from 16 to 27 March.