Ukraine developing 'careful' policy on sharing 'priceless' wartime data, minister tells Reuters
Ukraine holds the cards to garner support from allies with its "priceless" wartime data as Kyiv works on a policy for sharing it, Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told Reuters in an interview published Aug. 27.
"I think this is one of the 'cards', as our colleagues and partners say, to build win-win relations," Fedorov said, adding that Ukraine is "very careful" about sharing the information it has collected. "The data we have is priceless for any country."
The minister’s remarks echo the broader debate over whether Ukraine has leverage in its relations with Washington. In February, U.S. President Donald Trump told President Volodymyr Zelensky that Ukraine does not hold any cards in an infamous White House argument.
The data is crucial for training AI models. Ukraine now has millions of hours of combat footage recorded from the sky, according to Reuters.
"The demand for the data is incredibly high, but at the moment we are forming policy how to organise this process correctly," Fedorov said.
Ukraine is working on systems that would allow drones to operate fully autonomously, allowing them to operate in swarms and without pilots, he added.
Ukrainian drone autonomy startup the Fourth Law has said that its drones could work on their own by the end of the year using AI technology.
"When we're talking about full autonomy, I think we're definitely going to see singular demos by the end of this year," Yaroslav Azhnyuk, the Fourth Law’s founder and CEO, told the Kyiv Independent.
As Trump intensifies efforts to broker a peace deal to end Russia's war against Ukraine, Kyiv is working with its allies to receive strong security guarantees and establish a just peace.
Meanwhile, Presidential Office Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov are heading to New York this week to discuss security guarantees and future peace talks with Russia, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 27.
