Clickbait Title:
“Revealed: How Russia Gained Access to Surveillance Cameras in Ukraine’s Capital”
Rewritten Article:
The security services of Ukraine recently took down two online surveillance cameras that had been hacked by the Russian government in order to spy on air defense forces and critical infrastructure in Kyiv, the nation’s capital. These cameras had originally been set up by local residents to monitor the neighbourhood and parking lot, but they were hijacked and repurposed to stream footage to a YouTube channel controlled by the Russian intelligence services.
Investigation by the Ukrainian security service SBU suggests that this footage played a large role in an attack launched against the country on Tuesday – an assault that saw Russia fire almost one hundred missiles and drones that were chiefly aimed at Kyiv and the nation’s second-largest city of Kharkiv. At least five people were tragically killed and 129 were injured in the ambush.
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the SBU has worked diligently to disable around ten thousand digital security cameras that Russia may have intended to use for targeting missiles. Evidence suggests that Moscow’s intelligence services were receiving video footage from a range of cameras that had been installed with a specialized Russian software program called Trassir. This surveillance system was designed to keep an eye on moving people and automobiles, and even has the ability to recognize face and license plates.
Reporters uncovered that the visuals from these cameras were delivered directly to servers located in Moscow, and the SBU is convinced that the intelligence services on the other side had access to the content. Ukraine started phasing out Russian-created programs only after the onset of the invasion.
Real-time photos and videos are extremely valuable resources for both Ukrainian and Russian intelligence agencies, but Ukrainian law strictly prohibits citizens from distributing imagery of residential buildings or other objects that have been damaged by enemy forces – an offense that can result in up to twelve years of prison time.
In response to this expose, SBU has urged residents with street surveillance cameras to deactivate their devices’ online streaming services and to notify YouTube if they ever come across footage from these cameras.
