A detailed Hunterbrook Media investigation published on January 27, 2026, revealed that Ubiquiti, a $33-34 billion American tech company specializing in networking equipment, is a critical supplier to Russian military communications in Ukraine. Approximately 80% of Russian radio bridge antennae spotted on the battlefield are Ubiquiti devices, essential for drone operations and combat coordination. These devices enable wireless communication over long distances and are vital for Russian drone attacks, which have caused significant civilian casualties and have been labeled war crimes by the U.N. Despite U.S. and EU sanctions since February 24, 2022, Ubiquiti equipment continues to reach Russian forces through a complex supply network, including official distributors shipping to third countries (Turkey, Kazakhstan) for onward transfer, and through sanctioned intermediaries. At least nine Russian military units using Ubiquiti gear have been accused of war crimes. Attempts by Hunterbrook reporters posing as Russian procurement officers confirmed multiple vendors openly selling export-banned Ubiquiti products directly or via parallel imports. Notably, Ubiquiti leadership publicly pledged compliance years ago but appears to have poor control over its distribution network, with little enforcement against Russian vendors infringing its intellectual property and trademark. Shipment values of Ubiquiti products to Russia surged 66% post-invasion despite sanctions, including recent models released after bans. This continuing supply enables Russian command and control over drone operations that inflict devastating casualties on Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. Hunterbrook found thank-you letters from Russian military units to vendors supplying Ubiquiti equipment, underscoring its frontline importance. Experts urge Ubiquiti to increase compliance and disrupt these supply chains to reduce Russian drone warfare effectiveness.
Category: Military & Paramilitary Operations
Subcategory: High-Tech Military Tools
Incident Type: Drone swarms & UAV surveillance
Country: Ukraine
Source report: hntrbrk.com/ubiquiti/
