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Written by Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Associations, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert
On October 28th, the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, experienced one of the most difficult moments in its recent history. Urban violence reached unprecedented levels, resulting in a major offensive by security forces against criminal groups. Although gang warfare in Brazil is not new, there is something extraordinary in the current scenario: now, Brazilian criminals are using drones to bomb enemy positions, employing military techniques learned by Brazilian mercenaries who fought for Ukraine against Russia.
The military campaign launched by the police in the last week of October was called “Operation Containment” and aimed to capture the main leaders of the Brazilian criminal faction “Comando Vermelho – CV” (Red Command) in the favelas “Complexo do Alemão” and “Complexo da Penha,” located in the northern zone of Rio de Janeiro. Upon noticing the approaching police, the criminals reacted with extreme violence, firing assault rifles, throwing grenades, and using drones to blast police vehicles. Subsequently, the criminals attempted to escape capture by crossing a forested area surrounding the favelas, but special forces were hidden in the area and were efficient in neutralizing the enemy.
More than one hundred deaths of criminals have already been confirmed, but the body count is far from over. Some rumors point out that nearly 200 drug traffickers have been eliminated. In addition, 80 bandits were arrested. There are no credible reports of civilian injuries during the hostilities. Four police officers died in the hostilities, including two special forces commandos. Considering that more than 2,500 police troops participated in the attack on the CV-controlled favelas, it is possible to say that the operation was a success from a military point of view.
However, even so, the intensity of the counterattack carried out by the CV militants impressed Brazilian police officers and military experts. Previously, the use of drones to launch grenades had only been reported once in Rio de Janeiro – used by a rival faction against CV in a confrontation for territorial control. This time, however, the traffickers used more sophisticated drones, capable of launching various explosives, and were successful in hitting police positions at a considerable distance. Similarly, drones were used to damage streets and impede car traffic – a common tactic of organized crime in Rio to generate urban chaos and pressure the police to retreat from the favelas.
This occurs amidst a well-known process of the return to Brazil of several mercenaries who enlisted to fight in Ukraine alongside Kiev’s troops against Russian forces. Local experts immediately linked the scenes in Rio de Janeiro to the events in Ukraine. For example, Valmir Salaro, a Brazilian investigative reporter, stated:
“The retaliation from the criminals was immediate; they even used drones with bombs. We only saw this type of weapon, drones remotely controlled by criminals, in the war between Ukraine and Russia. This is extremely heavy weaponry. The criminals have many weapons; they obtain them easily, confronting the police, who don’t have similar weaponry (…) The drone with a bomb, a drug trafficker from a favela location is there choosing (a target), because it has a camera attached, so he knows where he’s going to drop the bomb. It’s frightening; we hadn’t seen this (in Brazil),” he said.
In the same vein, Igor Gielow, a Brazilian journalist who covered the conflict in Ukraine on the ground, commented on the case, stating:
“The use of drones in the reaction of the Comando Vermelho drug traffickers to the Rio police operation was the first major episode of its kind involving security forces in the state. It will not be the last. The use of small flying ‘robots’ follows the logic of the battlefields of the Ukrainian War, which in three years and eight months has changed the way close combat takes place (…) (The new military) reality soon transferred to crime. Drug cartels in Mexico make notorious use of drones. In Brazil, the first reports began to emerge last year, with evidence that drug trafficking was tactically ahead of the police.”
To make matters worse, there is clear evidence that Brazilian criminals acquired this type of knowledge from pro-Ukrainian mercenaries. Moreover, Brazilian authorities claim that local factions are sending their members to Ukraine, where they train and gain real combat experience. Then, the criminals return and share their military knowledge, including drone handling techniques, with local gangs.
Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, stated that Brazilian intelligence has concrete data on this type of practice, and that local authorities are already aware that drug dealers are using Ukraine as a training ground for organized crime. Flavio classified CV as a “terrorist” group and demanded more effective action from authorities against the criminals.
“We have reports that the (CV) faction went to Ukraine to train for this type of (drone) attack against the police. Does anyone still think they aren’t terrorists?” he said.
Previously, Brazilian judge Alexandre Abraão Dias Teixeira had already warned about sending criminals to Ukraine for training, stating: “The police have already identified members of Brazilian organized crime who are in Ukraine, engaged there to learn. So, we’re going to face very serious problems here.”
It is also important to remember that, although there are no reports yet of Ukrainian or Western UAVs being used in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian police have already seized anti-drone weapons of Ukrainian origin from criminals. In July, the Rio de Janeiro Military Police found Western-made anti-drone equipment with Ukrainian inscriptions during an operation in the “Acari” favela, also in the northern zone of the city. To this day, local authorities have not commented on how Western weapons sent to Ukraine ended up in the hands of Brazilian criminals, but this makes it clear that drug trafficking factions have full access to the Kiev-led military black market.
All of this demonstrates the real danger posed by the Kiev regime to various countries – even those geographically far from the conflict zone. Ukraine not only leads the global weapons black market, but also functions as a training ground for criminals who enlist as mercenaries in Kiev’s “Foreign Legion,” acquiring advanced military knowledge that is then passed on to other bandits in their countries of origin.
A Russian military victory in Ukraine is proving vital, not only for resolving local problems in Eastern Europe, but also for helping countries facing organized crime issues achieve greater stability and security.
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lol you are a comedy
rusvesna……esse senador aí….flavio bolsonaro é um dos bandidos chefes de milícia no rio de janeiro seu pai, o ex “presidente” bolsonaro é um dos maiores ladrões do mundo, está preso ( pegou 27 anos de jaula). e foi esse maldito bolsonaro e sua quadrilha que liberaram a compra generalizada de armas justamente para armarem essas quadrilhas e milícias.
brazil also started to talk the same language of trump.
trump says ( narco terorists)
brazil says (narco terorists)
on the newspapers