[Hunterbrook] A group of Ukrainian civilians who were injured by Russian attacks have now filed a new federal civil suit against Memphis Grizzlies owner Robert Pera’s company, Ubiquiti:
Hunterbrook:
Update: A group of Ukrainian civilians injured by Russian attacks have filed a federal civil suit against Ubiquiti in the Southern District of New York.
Ubiquiti is accused of ignoring warnings about their products in Russian military service.
DiCello Levitt
U.S. Tech Company Ubiquiti Sued for Allegedly Supplying Russia’s ‘Human Safari’ Drone Kill Zone in Ukraine
Communications Network Used to Hunt and Kill Ukrainian Civilians
NEW YORK – DiCello Levitt LLP today filed a human rights lawsuit against Ubiquiti Inc., alleging the New York-based technology company helped power the battlefield communications network Russia uses to hunt, target, and kill Ukrainian civilians with drones.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the lawsuit is brought by Ukrainian civilians and family members of civilians killed or injured in Russian drone and drone-assisted attacks. It alleges that Ubiquiti’s long-range wireless radio bridge antennas and airMAX technology became critical infrastructure in Russia’s command-and-control network — connecting drone pilots, reconnaissance feeds, commanders, and attack units in real time across a roughly 100-kilometer “kill zone” that Russian operators have turned into a “human safari.”
“Russia’s occupation of Ukraine runs on networks. Without battlefield communications, drones cannot hunt, commanders cannot coordinate, and an invading army cannot turn civilian roads and neighborhoods into a kill zone. Ubiquiti’s technology provided Russia the bridge — and Ukrainian civilians have paid the toll,” said Scott Gilmore, a partner at DiCello Levitt known internationally for his work in human rights and lead counsel for the plaintiffs.
The complaint alleges Ubiquiti’s products did not merely appear on the battlefield by accident. It alleges Russian forces rely on Ubiquiti radio bridges to extend communications across destroyed or degraded infrastructure, transmit live drone video, coordinate attacks, and sustain the digital “kill chain” used to identify and strike civilians.
“This case is about corporate accountability for enabling crimes against humanity,” Gilmore continued. “A U.S. company cannot look away when its export-controlled technology is helping an invading army hunt civilians — especially when the company can see where that technology is operating and has the ability to restrict or disable it. Ubiquiti had notice, had the tools to act, and instead helped sustain the network behind Russia’s human safari.”
According to the complaint, Ubiquiti was repeatedly warned that Ubiquiti devices were being smuggled into Russia and deployed by Russian forces in Ukraine. The complaint cites U.S. export-control restrictions, Russian import data, public reporting, Russian military statements, battlefield images and videos, and Ubiquiti’s own device telemetry. It alleges that after Russia’s full-scale invasion, exports of Ubiquiti products to Russia surged by more than 60%; Russian state media showed soldiers installing Ubiquiti antennas in occupied Ukraine; Russian military-linked sources described Ubiquiti equipment as essential to frontline communications; and Ubiquiti had location data showing where its devices were operating.
The lawsuit further alleges that Ubiquiti continued providing firmware updates and technical support that helped sustain devices operating in Russia’s battlefield network. It also alleges the company could have disrupted the pipeline and disabled devices used by Russia — including through geofencing, terminating distributors tied to sanctions-evasion routes, and building a remote-disable safety feature into airMAX firmware — but failed to do so.
The plaintiffs include Ukrainian civilians who were maimed, displaced, or forced to live and travel under drone surveillance, as well as family members of civilians killed in Russian drone attacks. The complaint describes attacks on families, first responders, and people using ordinary roads in civilian areas of Ukraine.
In one attack, a Russian drone chased a married couple’s car in Kherson and dropped an explosive through the windshield, killing the husband and maiming his wife. The complaint alleges the Russian drone unit later published the attack video online. In another attack, a firefighter responding to help a colleague was hunted by a drone and grievously wounded. In another, an energy worker was killed in a double-tap drone strike as colleagues tried to rescue him.
The lawsuit asserts claims for negligent entrustment, public nuisance, strict products liability for design defect, negligent product design, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and aiding and abetting assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The case is Kovalenko et al. v. Ubiquiti, Inc., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Case No. 1:26-cv-06838. The complaint is available here.
The DiCello Levitt case team is led by Scott Gilmore and includes Ken Abbarno, Bobby DiCello, Greg Gutzler, Mark DiCello, Adam Levitt, Emma Bruder, and Nicole Arenth.