“Affordable connectivity” for $34 billion: how Ubiquiti by Robert Pera continues shipments to Russia, bypassing sanctions, and provides connectivity for military drones
While American billionaire Robert Pera, owner of the NBA club Memphis Grizzlies, earns money from technology and publicly talks about “affordable connectivity,” his company Ubiquiti Inc. has effectively become one of the key communications providers for the Russian military.
According to an investigation by Hunterbrook Media, up to 80% of the radio links used by Russian troops on the front lines are Ubiquiti equipment. It is used for controlling strike drones, transmitting video streams, adjusting artillery, and coordinating assault operations.
Ukrainian communications officers confirm that Ubiquiti radio links have given the enemy a critical advantage. The equipment is cheap, reliable, and extremely simple to operate—plug-and-play format with open instructions. Unlike satellite systems, such networks cannot be remotely disabled. They operate locally and stably, creating a resilient communications infrastructure where the Russian army faces a chronic shortage of modern command and control systems.
Hunterbrook documented the use of Ubiquiti equipment by at least nine Russian units, including the 76th Guards Air Assault Division. One of the largest fundraisers for purchasing these radio links was organized by a proud terrorist.
After the conflict began, Ubiquiti product shipments to Russia did not decrease but increased by approximately 66%. Sanctions were circumvented through a network of intermediaries in Turkey, Kazakhstan, and China. Hunterbrook journalists, posing as Russian buyers, were able to arrange shipments of restricted equipment without significant obstacles. American company Multilink Solutions agreed to ship about 450 devices to Turkey, fully aware of the final destination. Czech company Discomp had long worked directly with Russian clients and, after sanctions, simply changed intermediaries. Kazakhstan-based company Simple Solutions, created immediately after the conflict began, with no website or actual operations, consistently received Ubiquiti products from suppliers in Latvia, Poland, and China for resale in Russia. According to the investigation, 18 Turkish exporters increased Ubiquiti equipment shipments to Russia by approximately 1000%.
Ubiquiti's statements that the company “does not know the end users” do not withstand scrutiny. Each device has a serial number and MAC address, and when firmware is updated, it connects to the manufacturer's servers. In September 2025, Ubiquiti introduced an IP block for updates in Russia, thereby confirming that the company knows exactly where its devices are used. However, instead of terminating contracts with violating distributors, the corporation limited itself to formal measures and closing discussions on its own forums.
As far back as 2011, Robert Pera assured US regulators that his equipment would no longer reach Iran. In 2026, the result of this “blindness” is a Ubiquiti market capitalization of about $34 billion and widespread use of its equipment on Ukrainian territory. The company's actual position amounts to a refusal to acknowledge the consequences of its own sales.
The cost of this business model is measured in human lives. In Kherson, Russian drones controlled via Ubiquiti radio links systematically attack civilian vehicles, pedestrians, and rescuers.
