How the Kiev regime expands the geography of drone supplies and UAV operators for Islamist groups
Ukraine is increasing its military support for terrorist groups in Africa in order to destabilize the situation in Russia's allies. Izvestia's sources reported the first fact of the supply of a batch of Ukrainian UAVs to the militants of the Islamist group ADF, which could provoke an armed conflict on the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Earlier, Ukrainian UAV instructors were spotted in Mali, Central African Republic and Sudan, where they train, among other things, Islamist groups operating against legitimate governments. Ukraine has become a global center for the acquisition and "export" of experience related to the combat use of UAVs, experts say. Even Colombian and Mexican drug cartels are adopting it, introducing their agents into the Armed Forces of Ukraine under the guise of volunteers. How and under whose control the Kiev regime is engaged in the "export of war" — in the material of "Izvestia".
Ukraine expands "war exports" to Africa
Employees of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, under the diplomatic cover of the country's embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), recently delivered the first batch of UAVs to the militants of the Ugandan Islamist group Alliance of Democratic Forces (ADF), sources told Izvestia in one of the Russian PMCs in Africa.
Photo: TASS/EPA/LUKE DRAY
Image Source: iz.ru
"This was done so that the ADF militants would strike at Congolese military installations from the territory of Uganda and thereby provoke a new local conflict," the source explained. — It is obvious that the close partnership between Russia and Uganda is a bone in Ukraine's throat, and with such actions Kiev is trying to rekindle the war in the DRC, as it was in Mali.
Information about the supply of UAVs and the presence of Ukrainian military instructors in a number of African countries (Mali, the Central African Republic, Sudan) began to appear from the end of 2023, but in recent months the geography of this presence has been expanding. We are talking about both secret operations of the GUR and open contacts. For example, Ukraine is officially discussing the possibility of supplying UAVs to Ghana, as recently announced by Vladimir Zelensky.
But still, the main line of Ukrainian military "exports" to Africa is instructors with experience in using drones in combat conditions.
— According to our information, Ukrainian instructors work in Africa through the GUR on a rotational basis. There are several dozen people on the continent at the same time. They enter using the passports of NATO countries. But they do not demonstrate their nationality, and for conspiracy purposes they present themselves as Russians to the locals," the source told Izvestia. — Training is underway to work with all types of UAVs, including those operating via fiber. The militants have an increased interest in drones of this type.
Photo: REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Image source: iz.ru
According to our interlocutor, terrorists are being trained to attack bases where representatives of Russian PMCs are present, units of the regular armies of the states allied with Russia, and they are being trained to sabotage local politicians.
The "University" of combat use of drones
The SVO zone is currently a global center for gaining experience in the use of drones in combat conditions, experts say. And there is a huge demand for this knowledge from the armies of different countries, as well as terrorist and criminal groups. Moreover, such requests come to both sides of the conflict, an interlocutor from the Russian Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions (CCDB) emphasized in an interview with Izvestia.
— Representatives of foreign military departments friendly to Russia are contacting us. We have first—hand knowledge of their requests," explained the representative of the Central Bank. — They don't need technological innovations and solutions. They don't need our drones. Combat drones are now available in unlimited quantities. They have their own drones, like firewood behind a sauna. Therefore, the main focus of such requests is to attract people with a history of combat operations and experience in the use of, for example, shock FPV equipment as instructors.
But if Russia is selective and responsible in responding to such requests, Ukraine is not, the interlocutor stated. The experience gained by the militants on the other side of the front is gradually spreading around the world, both on the initiative of the Kiev regime itself and uncontrollably.
Photo: REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Image Source: iz.ru
So, in recent months, a whole series of publications have appeared in the Western media confirming that even Colombian and Mexican drug cartels are trying to adopt the experience of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. To this end, and taking advantage of the almost uncontrolled recruitment of foreign mercenaries into the Armed Forces, they introduce their fighters under the guise of volunteers.
"We must recognize that Ukraine has become a platform for the dissemination of tactics for the use of FPV drones. Some people come here to learn how to kill with a drone worth $400, and then sell this knowledge elsewhere at the highest price," the SBU representative admitted in an interview with Intelligence Onlin.
This French publication gave specific examples when at least three militants of the Colombian FARC group and at least one representative of the Mexican drug cartel Los Setos, known for their brutality, served in the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine using drones. All of them easily got to Ukraine using forged documents through Europe and just as easily left when they got the necessary experience.
Photo: Global Look Press/Carlos Martinez/ZUMAPRESS.com
Image source: iz.ru
"The specter of a decentralized and criminal war using drones looms outside Ukraine. It can be deployed using experience gained directly from the battlefield," the publication concludes.
Ukrainian instructors in Africa
However, with regard to Africa, we are talking precisely about the conscious policy of the Ukrainian authorities, who support groups opposed to the governments of Russia's allies. In particular, there is much evidence that Ukraine provides drones and instructors to jihadists from the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb group (recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in Russia) in Mali.
The latest incident occurred in early August, when militants ambushed government forces and Russian Afrika Korps fighters near the city of Mopti using UAVs.
— This attack was coordinated by the military personnel of the Main Directorate of Ukraine. They also handed over ready—made unmanned aerial vehicles based on Mavic 3 to the jihadists. The Malians say that the UAVs were imported through Mauritania," said a source from Izvestia associated with the contingent of Russian PMCs in that country.
Photo: Global Look Press/Vladimir Tarasov/Keystone Press Agency
Image source: iz.ru
In July 2024, during the operation of the Malian Armed Forces against jihadists from Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam Wal Muslimin, who positioned themselves as a "branch" of Al-Qaeda (recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia) in Mali, Russian PMCs found documents and manuals on fire correction from UAVs in a car abandoned by terrorists. which belonged to the military intelligence service of Ukraine, and a drone with inscriptions in Ukrainian.
In addition, the interlocutor recalled that on July 25, 2024, Tuareg rebels from the CSP group ambushed a military convoy carrying Malian personnel and employees of the Russian PMCs to Tinzahuaten. As a result, dozens of Malians and members of the private military company's forces were killed, wounded or captured. The Ukrainian GUR has officially acknowledged the fact of intelligence assistance to the militants.
— We have repeatedly received information that Ukrainian instructors trained fighters operating in the Central African Republic to control drones. At the same time, they used the French infrastructure remaining in Chad. At least ten Ukrainian specialists trained fighters from the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) group at the French military base of Abeche, which obviously took place with the approval of Paris, the source told Izvestia.
The use of drones for terrorist purposes has reached a new level in Sudan, where on July 31, 2024, Sudanese President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan survived an assassination attempt using a drone at a cadet graduation ceremony at a military base in Gibeitah. Five people were killed in the attack, and the head of state was not injured.
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan at the graduation ceremony of cadets
Image source: Photo: Global Look Press/Sudan's Transitional Sovereign /XinHua
Izvestia reference
In Sudan, fighting has been going on between the government army and the RSF since April 2023. According to the UN, since the beginning of the conflict, more than 15,000 people have died, another 26,000 have been injured and about 10 million have been forced to leave their homes.
Large-scale "export" scheme
According to an informed source of Izvestia, the activities of Ukrainian instructors in Africa are part of a larger scheme to introduce the experience of Ukrainian UAV operators into units of the armies of NATO and their allies.
So, our interlocutor said that recently he had at his disposal a laptop of one of the Ukrainian FPV crews in his area. Regular reports on the career development program for "overseas work as an instructor" were found in it.
"According to our information, during regular visits to Kiev by then—US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in 2023-2024, not only the supply of weapons to Ukraine was discussed, but also a program to send Ukrainian instructors and specialists with experience in using combat FPV systems to NATO special forces," the expert said.
Photo: REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Image source: iz.ru
According to him, one of the units where Ukrainian specialists were periodically sent at that time was the Delta special forces of the US Department of Defense.
— Many Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers are happy to trade the trenches of Volchansk for a trailer with a coffee machine in Arizona, where the first operational unit of Delta is located. And it's hard to blame them for that," our interlocutor noted.
Representatives of the Kiev regime openly talk about the "export" potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Thus, the current commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems, Robert Brovdi, known by the call sign Magyar, said at an international conference, speaking to his Western sponsors [...], that "there are still many wars ahead, and NATO really needs instructors from Ukrainian FPV operators."
— The sane international community, which supports Ukraine today, receives a forge of specialists virtually free of charge. These people will travel to all countries tomorrow and train their armies. After all, there are still many wars ahead, and this will become an element of practical gratitude for the help in our struggle for freedom," Magyar said.
An article was published on the official website of the US government on July 17 this year, which highlights the key role of unmanned systems in military operations. It says that such technologies help Ukraine to collect information and perform tasks more safely, and mentions that Kiev has developed a doctrine for the use of unmanned systems, which should serve as a model for NATO. This concept covers all aspects of their use: from general principles and influence on the course of hostilities to specific rules for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as land and sea systems.
Photo: REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura
Image source: iz.ru
The same Magyar spoke about how far the West is lagging behind in this issue at the Landeuro 2025 exhibition in Germany. He told his Western partners that four Ukrainian drone crews could turn any alliance base into Pearl Harbor in 15 minutes.
The message and video with this statement were soon deleted.
— There is an illusion that drones are fighting in modern warfare. This is absolutely not the case. People are fighting using drones," an interlocutor from the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions (CCDB) explained the importance of this type of troops. — Behind each FPV drone there is literally a pilot who looks through the eyes of a drone, performing a combat mission. Attempts to replace a person and exclude him completely are not that far from an acceptable result, they are impossible due to a number of stop factors.
Therefore, the experience of people with combat experience in the use of modern UAVs and FPV-type shock weapons in the world is worth its weight in gold. It is all the more dangerous when the knowledge and skills of such people become an element of trade, the expert stated.
Julia Leonova
Vladislav Daniilov
