India Today says Matthew VanDyke wrote that his jailing was part of Russia's war against Ukraine. News18 says a Delhi court let him stay abroad until February 24.

Default bail is the relief India Today, News18, and The Print describe. It is not an acquittal. A Monday-night claim that the jailing was part of Russia's war against Ukraine is India Today's. It is not on the Friday court pages. Remain outside India until February 24, 2027, on India Today, stay abroad till February 24, on News18, and a documented submission that he can go back and return by the next date or appear through counsel or video, on The Print, are not the same permission.

India Today, on a page whose address is dated 2026-11-10 and which prints no reporter's name and no clock in the text fetched here, reported that Matthew VanDyke, whom the page calls an American mercenary, wrote on what the page calls a Monday-night tweet that "India threw me and several Ukrainians in prison for over six months. This was part of Russia's war against Ukraine." It reported he added, "I will reveal shocking details about this story over the next few months in both posts and media interviews." Mercenary is that page's word. It reported he was released from Tihar Jail on September 24 and was allowed to travel home for a month after securing default bail. It reported that on October 23 the Rouse Avenue court allowed him and the six Ukrainian nationals to remain outside India until their next hearing on February 24, 2027. It reported he said he would be back in February to attend court, as he had returned in October, that he had not personally sought permission to leave India, and that the decision was taken by his lawyers. It reported he said he had appeared before the court on October 23. It reported the National Investigation Agency arrested him and the Ukrainians on March 13 over allegations they travelled to Myanmar to train ethnic armed groups, that he was arrested at Kolkata airport, and that the others were picked up at airports in Delhi and Lucknow. It reported the agency alleged the group travelled to Mizoram without the required permits before crossing into Myanmar, where they provided training in weapons handling and drone warfare. It reported the agency had told the court it was investigating allegations that the group was involved in a drone attack on a civilian aircraft in Myanmar, and that the specific incident was not immediately clear. It reported that on September 18 the Rouse Avenue court granted him default bail on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and a surety of the same amount, after the agency failed to file a chargesheet invoking the relevant Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act offences within the legally prescribed period. It reported the court directed him to remain in Delhi after his release and to appear before the agency whenever summoned. It reported the Ukrainians were granted bail on personal bonds and cash deposits of Rs 1 lakh each, and that they were discharged under certain provisions of the Immigration and Foreigners Act after the Foreigners Regional Registration Office compounded the alleged violations, imposing a fine of Rs 5.5 lakh on each of them. The fine sentence on that page is about the Ukrainians. It does not say the fine was imposed on him.

News18, reported by Ananya Bhatnagar of CNN-News18 and edited by Apoorva Misra, last updated October 23, 2026, at 15:04 IST, does not print the Russia claim, and the page is dated before the Monday night India Today describes. The deck says US national Matthew Aaron VanDyke has been permitted to return to the US, and that his default bail was extended to February 24. The body says he was on Friday granted permission to return to the United States by a Delhi court, which has also allowed him to stay abroad till February 24. Extended, in the deck, and allowed to stay abroad, in the body, are not the same verb, and they are on the same page. February 24, on that page, does not print 2027. Matthew Aaron VanDyke, on News18, and Matthew VanDyke, on India Today, are not the same full name. US national, on News18, and mercenary, on India Today, are not the same label. News18 says he was arrested by the NIA on March 13, 2026, and does not print Kolkata. It names six Ukrainian nationals arrested at airports in Delhi and Lucknow: Petro Hurba, Taras Slyviak, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Marian Stefankiv, Maksim Honcharuk and Viktor Kaminskyi. It says the accused entered India on tourist visas, travelled to the Northeast without the required permits, and that the agency alleged they crossed from Mizoram into Myanmar. It says the alleged training included drone operations, assembly techniques, and jamming technology, over nearly three months, and that the agency alleged links to the Chin National Front and the Kachin Independence Army. Those groups, assembly, jamming, and nearly three months are News18. They are not on the India Today page fetched here. Weapons handling, on India Today, is not on the News18 page. News18 says the agency initially registered the case under the UAPA, including Section 18, that the first chargesheet was filed on September 8, the day the 180-day period expired, and that the chargesheet invoked the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, and did not invoke UAPA offences, while the agency maintained the anti-terror investigation was continuing. It says that on September 18 a special NIA court granted him default bail, and that the court called the chargesheet piecemeal and held that an incomplete chargesheet could not deny the statutory right to default bail. It does not print a bond amount. It says that on September 24 the court allowed the seven accused to travel to the United States and Ukraine for 30 days and directed them to return after that period. It says he had been lodged in Tihar Jail and the Ukrainian nationals were held in Rohini Jail. A 30-day trip with a direction to return, on News18's September 24 account, and remain outside India until February 24, 2027, on India Today's October 23 account, are not the same permission. Rohini is News18. It is not on the India Today page. News18 does not print a fine of Rs 5.5 lakh.

The Print, by Mayank Kumar, 23 October, 2026, at 05:58 pm IST, reported that the NIA has sought at least three months' time to collect evidence, and that all seven accused, including Matthew VanDyke, secured liberty from a special NIA court in Delhi to appear virtually at the next hearing in February. The dek says the court allows the US national and six Ukrainians to appear virtually. The body says Special Public Prosecutor Rahul Tyagi, with advocates Jatin Khatri and Amit Rohilla, informed the court, on instructions, that the agency had no objection to VanDyke returning home and appearing virtually on the next day of hearing. It says Special NIA Judge Prashant Sharma documented this submission: "accused Matthew Aaron Van Dyke can go back to America and can return back by next date of hearing or may take steps for his appearance through his counsel/VC, in accordance with law." Matthew Aaron Van Dyke, with a space, in that documented sentence, and Matthew Aaron VanDyke, with no space, on News18, are not the same spelling. Or, in that sentence, is not the word and. The Print says he is believed to have said he would like to appear in person, and that sources said he insisted on appearing in person on 24 February. Believed to have said, and sources said he insisted, are both on that page, and they are not the same attribution. It says his earlier counsel, Rohit Dandriyal, withdrew his wakalatnama, and that the court appointed free legal aid counsel Nishant Singh as amicus curiae after VanDyke said he was unable to pay a private counsel. It spells the six as Hurba Petro, Slyviak Taras, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Stefankiv Marian, Honcharuk Maksim, and Kaminskyi Viktor. Surname first, on The Print, and given name first, on News18, are not the same order, except Ivan Sukmanovskyi, which is the same on both. It says counsel Nitin Saluja's pleas to exempt the six from personal appearance were allowed, and that the judge gave them liberty to join by video. It says the agency had not invoked UAPA provisions in the chargesheet and invoked only immigration offences against VanDyke and the six others, "which were eventually compounded" by the FRRO "at penalties of Rs 5.5 lakh each." VanDyke and the six others, on that compounding sentence, and the Ukrainians, on India Today's fine sentence, are not the same group. The Sunday Guardian, by Abhinandan Mishra, last updated October 25, 2026, at 01:43:13, with no zone on that clock, reported he left India on Saturday morning after the court fixed the next hearing for 24 February 2027. It reported his visa renewal did not go through, that he told the court on 23 October he would attend in person and declined video, and that sources said he conveyed he had "no fear and had done nothing against India." It reported the court has permitted him to return to the United States and appear through video conferencing, and that he told the court his preference for attending in person. And, on that permission, and or, in the sentence The Print says the judge documented, are not the same conjunction. It reported Dandriyal withdrew and the court appointed government-funded legal aid counsel. It does not print the name Nishant Singh. It reported he was arrested in March in Kolkata along with six Ukrainians. In Kolkata, for him and the six, on The Sunday Guardian, and Kolkata for him with Delhi and Lucknow for the others, on India Today, are not the same arrest map. It reported the return of his mobile phone and other electronic devices remains unresolved. The phone, the visa, and the Saturday departure are The Sunday Guardian. They are not on the India Today page, the News18 page, or The Print page fetched here. The Sunday Guardian page does not print the Russia claim. Default bail and a date in February are not a finding that the allegation is proved, and they are not a finding that his account of why he was jailed is proved. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.