Ukraine hopes to use its deep repositories of battlefield data and footage, gathered from over three and a half years of full-scale war, as a leverage tool with allies.
“I can say that the demand for data is incredibly high, but at the moment, we are forming policy on how to organize this process correctly,” said Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s digital minister, in an interview with Reuters published on Wednesday.
But Fedorov’s comments indicate Ukraine won’t freely give out this data, which he called “priceless.” Kyiv is “very carefully” considering how to share its records and footage with its allies, the minister said.
“I think this is one of the ‘cards,’ as our colleagues and partners say, to build win-win relations,” he added.
Such data can be particularly useful for defense firms and governments hoping to build military-purpose artificial intelligence, especially for drone swarm technology.
Ukraine’s drone pilots have recorded vast stores of combat footage from first-person-view attack drones, providing insight into how each one navigates the battlefield and targets infantry, armored vehicles, artillery, and other assets. Many teams often observe their hits with reconnaissance drones that fly much higher and can offer a bird’s-eye view of the drone attack.
Low-tech drones have been credited in Ukraine with inflicting as high as 70% of Russia’s casualties in recent months, becoming the war’s deadliest weapon.
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Fedorov told Reuters that he estimated between 80% to 90% of Russian targets hit on the battlefield are now caused by drones.
His comments come as Ukraine has sought to entrench itself in industrial and defense sector ties with Western partners. The country has advertised its battlegrounds as a live test bed for friendly arms makers, launching a program this year to trial Western prototypes and report back on their performance.
With a need for firepower, Ukrainian units have hosted drones and uncrewed ground vehicles from hundreds of Western defense firms and startups hoping to test their products on the battlefield.
Kyiv has also been opening doors for Western allies to purchase weapons for Ukrainian troops directly from Ukrainian manufacturers, a method pioneered by Denmark in a bid to counter Russia without exhausting its own stores. Last week, Ukraine announced a new program that encourages Ukrainian weapons manufacturers to set up production in Denmark itself.