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Officially, since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 there were three armies fighting in the front. To the most obvious in the first bars of the contest, Russia and Ukrainethe troops of North Korea, an alliance with Moscow that It was confirmed several months ago by both parties. No one could also miss that all kinds of flags were found among the armies.
But this is something else: Ukraine has just discovered with surprise some legionaries that They come from Mexico.
Posters in Ukraine. The war in Ukraine has become a Innovation laboratory military, and one of its most influential developments has been the massive and devastating use of FPV dronescheap, agile and ability to carry explosives to hit vehicles, fortified positions or even penetrate windows and directly attack enemy combatants.
These devices, which have transformed Mobility and logistics In the European Eastern Front, they now begin to attract the attention of non -state actors with very different agendas to those of a national army. According to an investigation of intelligence onlinemembers of Mexican posters have infiltrated the International Legion of Ukraine not only to fight against Russia, but also to acquire first -hand the techniques of use and maintenance of FPV drones that could later apply in His intestine wars In Latin America.
The Legion as a gateway. From the first months of Russian invasion, Ukraine created the International Legion to receive foreign combatants willing to join their forces. In this framework, intelligence services from both Mexico and Ukraine have detected indications that some Spanish -speaking volunteers, linked to drug cartels, have enlisted with the intention of absorbing technical knowledge that they could hardly obtain in another place.
The reports point to that Even the Mexican CNI He sent a memorandum to the Ukrainian SBU alerting about this phenomenon, while kyiv’s counterintelligence has initiated research On several recruits associated with semi-clandestine units, such as the ethos tactical group, which operates in Donbás and Járkov. The presence of former FARC guerrillas, equally interested in these tactics is not ruled out either.
Cartel’s arms evolution. Concern is logical if observed The trajectory Of the large Mexican criminal groups, which in the last decade have traveled to improvise homemade explosives to deploy arsenals almost military. About five years ago they began experimenting With quadricopters They carried small explosive loads. Then they perfected Air bombing techniques rudimentary against enemies or security forces.
Learning. In recent times it has been documented The use of FPV in direct confrontations between the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG) and factions of the Sinaloa Cartel in states such as Nayarit. Videos and Drones remains recovered confirm that they are already testing suicidal attacksalthough They pointed on TWZtheir tactics still seem incipient and plagued with failures. However, the entry of operators with Ukrainian training could radically accelerate that learning curve.
The FPV and its criminal application. Unlike a commercial drone like the DJI, whose operation is simple, flying an armed FPV is more similar to pilot a plane: Requires vision immersive with glassesfine control and exhaustive training to achieve precision maneuvers. In Ukraine, they have established themselves Authentic Academies for Train pilots In the offensive use of these weapons, courses that posters and other non -state groups try to take advantage of clandestine.
Intelligence experts on posters foresee that, if their domain of this technology will be consolidated, FPV could be used against armored vehicles improvised (calls monsters or narco-tanques), fortified ranches of rival bosses or directly against human objectives of high value, through surprise and lethal attacks. The Ukrainian experience has shown that a drone of just $ 400, well managed, can defeat and generate positions A disproportionate impact.
Concern and consequences. No doubt, for kyiv, the discovery of this phenomenon has been reason for indignation. SBU authorities admit that, although the international legion was born to channel foreign solidarity in defense of the country, they now face the reality that Ukraine has become a platform for Global dissemination of asymmetric war tactics.
The risk is that knowledge designed to stop a state invader is exported to criminal conflictswhere they will be used to magnify the violence of posters that already have of heavy weaponsorganized hitmen and all kinds of corruption networks. That the CJNG or Sinaloa integrate FPV in its arsenals not only raises the level of its clashes, but also introduces a micro-war dimension Technological in Latin America, with unpredictable consequences for public safety.
Global Violence School. He episode illustrates a major phenomenon: contemporary conflicts have become incubators of tactics and technologies that then migrate to other scenarios. As well as Syria popularized the improvised drones In the hands of jihadist militias, Ukraine is exporting The FPV drone as a reference weapon for non -state actors.
The fact that the drugs in Mexico travel thousands of kilometers To train on the battlefield more technologically innovative of the present reflects not only the interconnection of conflicts, but also the rapid democratization of access to advanced war tools.
If you want also, in a world where the cost of lethal violence is low and its knowledge is globalized, the border between state wars and organized criminal violence is It blurs dangerously.
Image | SGT Williams
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