Airlines resume domestic flights in Myanmar; India says foreigners confess to drone training in Chin State

Airlines resume domestic flights in Myanmar

Flight ticket sale companies stated that Myanmar Airways International (MAI), Mingalar Air, Myanmar National Airlines, Air Thanlwin and Mann Yadanarpon Airlines will resume selling tickets today for domestic flights due to an “improvement” in jet fuel supply. This follows an order from regime leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on Wednesday that airline services must prioritize towns “difficult to access by road.”

Sources told DVB that at least three airlines stopped selling tickets for domestic flights on March 20. MAI shared on social media that it resumed domestic flights yesterday, while the others have yet to confirmed this. It also reinstated its baggage allowance to 30 kg per passenger in economy class and 40 kg per passenger in business class on March 26, after 10 kg were reduced from March 22-25, due to “an aviation fuel shortage.”

The regime’s National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) imposed new fuel-rationing measures, ordering its employees to work from home every Wednesday starting on March 25 until further notice. It also recommended the private sector do the same. The NDSC restricted some vehicle owners from purchasing fuel from once every 24 hours to once or twice a week to “prepare for future energy challenges.”

India claims foreigners confess to drone training in Chin State

Six Ukrainians and one American have allegedly confessed to India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) that they conducted training for unnamed resistance groups in Burma’s Chin State “on several occasions.” India claims the seven smuggled drones and jamming equipment from Europe into Burma, via India. They were all arrested at airports in Kolkata, Delhi, and Lucknow on March 13 and remain in NIA custody.

The seven suspects were identified as U.S. national Matthew VanDyke and Ukrainian nationals Maksym Honcharuk, Petro Hubra, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Marian Stefankiv, Taras Slyviak, and Viktor Kaminskyi. VanDyke reportedly founded Sons of Liberty International in 2014, which provides “security and military consulting and training to communities fighting terrorism, insurgency, and oppressive regimes.”

The six Ukrainians are reportedly war veterans and drone specialists. VanDyke is accused of recruiting them to provide training to groups in Burma opposed to the 2021 military coup. The U.S. Embassy in India said it is aware of the case but declined to provide further details, citing privacy concerns. Ukraine’s embassy in India has questioned the basis of the arrests, claiming that the NIA may have relied on Russian intelligence.