Ubiquiti exporting to Russia fueling their ability in engage in continued warfare
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Haha the reddit comments assume that post was an attempt to manipulate Ubiquiti's stock price.
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Ubiquiti: The U.S. Tech Enabling Russia’s Drone War
Jan 27, 20267:00 amBy:Jenny Ahn Blake Spendley Andrew Ford Till Daldrup Michelle CeraEditor:Jim Impoco Sam Koppelman Wendy Nardi
Ubiquiti, a $33 billion tech empire, is led by Robert Pera, owner of the Memphis Grizzlies. He pledged to tighten controls on his products years ago — so why are Russian military units sending Ubiquiti vendors thank-you notes?
Based on Hunterbrook Media’s reporting, Hunterbrook Capital is short $UI and long a basket of comparable securities at the time of publication. Positions may change at any time. See full disclosures below. Our affiliate Hunterbrook Law is in conversations with litigation firms regarding potential private litigation on behalf of Ukrainians impacted.- Ubiquiti radio bridge antennae serve a critical communications need for the Russian military in Ukraine, including for drone operations, according to our investigation. A Ukrainian communications officer estimated 80% of Russian radio bridges they’d observed on the battlefield were made by Ubiquiti. “Ubiquiti is made for regular people — basically plug-and-play. Tons of tutorials on YouTube,” the officer explained. “There is no alternative,” a Russian vendor told Hunterbrook. The U.N. has called Russia’s drone attacks against civilians crimes against humanity.
- Hunterbrook identified at least nine Russian military units accused of war crimes, or individuals associated with those units, that use Ubiquiti equipment in Ukraine, based on a review of Telegram posts and open-source materials. One fundraising group that said it had donated Ubiquiti antennae to Russian forces is run by a terrorist convicted of the 2015 bombing of a Ukrainian government building.
- Hunterbrook tested how easily export-banned Ubiquiti equipment could reach Russian forces. Posing as a Russian military procurement officer, a reporter contacted Russian vendors and multiple official Ubiquiti distributors worldwide. Nearly a dozen agreed to sell export-banned equipment. One vendor even shared thank-you letters they said were for providing Ubiquiti equipment to the Russian military. Official distributors, including U.S.-based Multilink Solutions, agreed to ship to third countries like Turkey for pickup even after the customer identified as being based in Russia — a known sanctions evasion tactic flagged by U.S. authorities.
- The total value of Ubiquiti shipments crossing the border into Russia surged 66% after the invasion despite U.S. and EU sanctions and export controls, according to Hunterbrook’s analysis of trade records. Shipments include the latest Ubiquiti models released after the ban, suggesting ongoing access to the company’s supply chain.
- Official Ubiquiti distributors appear to have continued supplying Russia after the invasion, sometimes rerouting shipments through intermediaries in high-diversion-risk countries like Turkey and Kazakhstan, trade records show. Some appear to have used intermediaries later sanctioned by the U.S. for export control evasions.
- Russian vendors use Ubiquiti’s trademarked name and logos despite Russian intellectual property laws that would allow quick takedowns and potential criminal prosecution for infringers. In 2025, Ubiquiti filed to protect its stylized “U” logo in Russia with the Russian federal intellectual property agency — and won — but took no apparent action against these Russian vendors.
- Ubiquiti’s global distribution network is riddled with compliance red flags beyond Russia. In Paraguay, the founder and president of Flytec Computers — once responsible for 13% of Ubiquiti’s revenues — has been accused of smuggling, massive tax evasion, and money laundering in Brazil, and of involvement with the illegal housing of a large-scale bitcoin mining operation. In Mexico, Ubiquiti distributor SYSCOM was quietly acquired in 2021 by Hikvision, a Chinese state-owned company the U.S. designated that same year as part of China’s military-industrial complex.
- More than a decade after Ubiquiti was fined for “reckless disregard” for sanctions obligations when its products ended up in Iran, Hunterbrook found Ubiquiti products may be still flowing there. A current official distributor listed on Ubiquiti’s website, Yemen-based Alfa Tech, may be operating branches in Shiraz and Tehran, according to its own Persian-language advertisements. In 2014, U.S. regulators fined Ubiquiti after at least $589,000 worth of prohibited equipment was diverted to sanctioned Iranian entities. CEO Robert Pera told Forbes at the time, “It can’t happen again. If it does, I’ll be in a lot of trouble.”
- Ubiquiti openly admits “we do not have any visibility” over purchases from its distributors, but legal experts told Hunterbrook that’s not a viable defense. U.S. export controls and sanctions operate on a strict liability basis — meaning, even unwitting violations are still violations. “Ignorance is not really a practical excuse, or rather, a legal excuse,” a former senior State Department sanctions official told Hunterbrook. A sanctions compliance lawyer added, “You, doing very little effort, were able to determine that it’s available for purchase by the Russian armed forces. … The company’s compliance team should be taking additional steps to prevent that.”
- Industry experts told Hunterbrook that Ubiquiti likely has the technical means to trace products appearing inside Russia — and may already be doing so. As of September 2025, Ubiquiti appeared to have placed an IP-based ban on firmware updates for Russian users, based on complaints on a Russian forum, suggesting the company can identify device locations. Experts said Ubiquiti could even trace specific hardware back to the original distributor through serial numbers and MAC addresses. Ubiquiti shut down a user forum discussion raising concerns about its Russia business with the message, “Your post violates community guidelines.”
