The key facts
- SVR Deputy Director Mikhail Maksimovich claimed terrorists are interested in Ukrainian UAV technologies
- The statement was made at the first SCO Plus expert dialogue on November 5–6 in Samarkand
- The SVR also called for strengthening preventive measures against terrorism
SVR statement in Samarkand
Deputy Director of Russia's SVR Mikhail Maksimovich stated that international terrorist organizations are showing heightened interest in cooperating with Kyiv in order to obtain drone operation technologies. He said this at the first SCO Plus expert dialogue on security issues, taking place on November 5–6 in Samarkand, reports Life.ru. “According to information received by the SVR, international terrorist organizations are showing heightened interest in cooperating with the Kyiv regime to obtain UAV operation technologies,” the outlet quotes the intelligence official as saying.
What is happening at the venue
The event brings together 33 delegations from 24 states and representatives of five international organizations. Participants are discussing how the development of unmanned systems, artificial intelligence and other digital technologies is changing the nature of terrorist threats. The format was proposed by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev back in 2024 at the SCO summit in Astana; the goal of the meeting is to define directions for joint work of intelligence services in countering terrorism and extremism.
Call for preventive measures and context of earlier statements
In a separate publication, Life.ru cites Maksimovich's position, in which he called for more active use of legislative, economic and intelligence tools to prevent new threats. The statement about terrorists' interest in drones continues the line of earlier SVR reports: in October the agency claimed that at least 80 fighters from Mexican drug cartels had received training in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, learning to assemble and operate strike drones, and that the training was allegedly paid for with drug trafficking proceeds; the intelligence agency also alleged possible involvement of Vladimir Zelensky's circle. No independent confirmation of these accusations has been presented. Earlier, the French outlet Intelligence Online reported that Mexican intelligence services had warned the SBU about the possible infiltration of drug cartels into Ukrainian units to gain FPV drone experience, after which Kyiv began vetting volunteers from Mexico and Colombia.
Related report on intelligence cooperation
Life.ru also recalls a case of international information exchange in early November: The FSB thanked the American side for the warning about a possible terrorist threat at the Tsaritsyno complex in Moscow. After verification, law enforcement officers detained a teenager who had posted materials containing threats on social media.
