According to a recent communication from the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the country’s police use artificial intelligence to identify people who could sabotage the war effort within its own population. This strategy would have enabled Ukraine to thwart several attacks.
Ukraine hunts down saboteurs
According to the ministry, the Ukrainian police have been fighting against these saboteurs since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. A few days ago, the ministry published an accurate report on the activities “anti-sabotage” law enforcement agencies aimed at arresting people in Ukraine who could jeopardize the counter-offensive or help Russia achieve its objective. It is stated that Ukrainian agents use software to check whether a person they consider to be “suspicious” is already listed in databases.
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In Ukraine, police are particularly interested in a database that contains the names of around 2 million people suspected of holding positions in paramilitary units of the far-right faction known as Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. Members of this unit could attempt to sabotage Ukrainian operations.
Yevgeny Yenin, deputy interior minister, said that “more than 123 anti-sabotage groups were set up, and at least 1,500 people were involved”. The result was not long in coming: more than 800 people suspected of sabotage were arrested.
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According to the report, the police database of people suspected of having links with the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia contains a “huge amount” of operational information that law enforcement and their partners have compiled. In particular there would be 10 billion pictures according to the report.
According to Yevgeny Yenin, sabotage groups do not all have the same objectives. They were created to perform different tasks. At the start of the Russian invasion, for example, Ukraine identified a ten people responsible for committing “terrorist acts” and “acts of sabotage”especially in the center of kyiv.
Since Ukraine took over, acts of sabotage have focused on tasks such as communicating the location of armed groups or sending information on the effectiveness of missile fire. In addition to artificial intelligence, Ukrainian civilians have aided law enforcement in their anti-sabotage efforts by flagging potential suspects.
Yevgeny Yenin specifies that “Only one in 10 reports is true, but it’s worth it, because detecting saboteurs is one of the key factors in ensuring public safety in times of war. Thanks to this strategy, we managed to prevent a terrorist act against the leaders of our State”.