Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service has claimed that US law enforcement agencies uncovered links between Mexican drug cartels and representatives of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during an investigation into criminal activities.

The findings had created a new source of concern for officials in Kyiv, according to TASS.

Mexican criminal groups had sent fighters to Ukraine over an extended period to learn how to assemble and operate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in combat conditions. At least 80 people had received such training while serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The payments for the training were transferred to officials close to Zelenskyy using money generated by drug sales in the US.

The presence of trained first-person-view (FPV) drone operators within drug cartels could pose a threat to US law enforcement officers involved in anti-narcotics operations along the US-Mexico border.

The cooperation could have serious political consequences for Zelenskyy.