Although the war in Ukraine has the features of a conflict “old-style”, many crucial processes happen in a cybernetic environment. It is there that the current exchange of data from many sources is accompanied by a mostly automated advisory and decision-making process, specified as an indication of targets for decommissioning. Importantly, although the environment has different access ceilings, the transmission of data takes place in a democratic way – anyone can upload the information they get into the system. The Russians before February 24, 2022 had reason to believe that Ukrainians would squad up the network for combat. As in another calculations, they have misestimated the capabilities of an opponent with a number of 200,000 qualified computer scientists. And hundreds of thousands willing to cooperate with an army of citizens.
The Ukrainian Diia, the equivalent of our mCitizen and ePUAP, was not created for war. Like smartphones that install these applications and tools based on them. But the unwanted war broke out, forcing millions to flee. And then it turned out that despite the terrible turmoil, the Ukrainian state operated. Offices piloted refugees, providing them with the essential guidance at a given phase of travel, no payment of benefits was suspended, residents of circumstantial towns were informed of the threats of artillery fire and bombing. Digital maps of shelters, constantly updated lists of shops, petrol stations, aid points – if individual is considering the phenomenon of Ukrainian self-organization after February 24, 2022, the answer will be found in the smartphone.
This smartphone and the Dia installed in it are besides utilized to transmit data to useful troops. In the early stages of the invasion, erstwhile the Russians occupied further areas, they were accompanied by the eyes and ears of civilians. Information on military movements, their numbers, weapons – collected and sent by residents – were a crucial complement to data obtained by their own intelligence and satellites and aircraft of the North Atlantic Alliance. Of course, civilians did not have and do not have access to military systems – digital locks organize content and send out to the curious and authorised entities. An excellent example of specified a solution is ePPo.
But before I compose more about this application, let's look at the events of July 26, 2023. On that day, the Russians conducted the most serious rocket attack on Ukraine since winter. The Tu-95 bombers operating on the Caspian Sea fired 36 Ch-101/Ch-555 maneuvering missiles. Until 33 rockets were shot down by the defenders. specified advanced efficiency was due to the fact that Kiev was attacked, which OPL is equipped with excellent American Patriot rocket system – but not only. Wednesday, July 26, was cheerful in Ukraine, with large visibility on the vast parts of the country. Which I stress, due to the fact that although it was the anti-aircraftsmen who fired at the missiles – and this was thanks to them, president Zelenski – average Ukrainians were besides behind the success. 530 citizens, ePPo users who made usage of it that day. On a beautiful afternoon, the low-flying rockets most likely saw thousands of people, but not all of them had adequate thought, reflexes, will and method capabilities to aid track down and shoot down intruders. And that's what ePPo is for.
ePPo is like another apps available for smartphones – free and easy to download, although it requires authorisation (to check if the user is simply a Ukrainian citizen). The apka transmits data on sighted air targets. simply open it and direct the smartphone towards the object. Then you gotta choice an icon to find what we have observed: unmanned, rocket, chopper or aircraft. The full procedure ends by pressing the red button. Aiming the smartphone at the object allows you to track the coordinates and at the same time is simply a way to verify the notification. ePPo is connected to the anti-aircraft defence strategy of Ukraine, so that the coordinates are immediately sent to its database. Artificial intelligence algorithms inactive work. Within 2 to 4 seconds, ePPo data is processed – taking into account recorded coordinates, the velocity and flight path, the most likely directions of traffic are calculated. Visualized data goes to OPL units, complementing radar information (which parts of low-flying missiles do not see or see intermittently). Then all you gotta do is shoot down the intruder. In turn, the "civil" part of the strategy sends emergency messages to mobile telephone users in susceptible areas.
ePPo has been operating since the fall of 2022, is being continuously improved and helped shoot down dozens of objects. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians collected the drug, creating "citizen radar" and giving further evidence of the engagement of average people in the fight against the invader.
For the sake of order, it is worth adding that not all data collected by civilians are utilized for the day-to-day management of the battlefield. Ukrainian authorities have asked citizens to paper Russian crimes and the scale of destruction. It was thanks to specified materials that the perpetrators were identified. Crimes in Bucza and recreate the course of these dramatic events (to be precise, the contents of Russian soldiers' mobile phones are besides utilized for specified purposes – lost or found close the dead and prisoners). Photos and films are besides a tool in the information war. Ukrainians consistently build a communicative according to which their country is constantly ravaged by the Russian army. This is done with the support of Western digital corporations. 1 of the ideas implemented as part of this cooperation is to complement Google maps (street view functions) with current pictures of Ukrainian cities. A virtual walk through the ruins serves – as right as possible – discredit Russia, indicating its criminal actions in Ukraine.
