2022-09-29T14:43:00+03:00 Politics 2023-09-15T04:49:34+03:00

Ukrainian news

Ukrainian news

Thanks To Ukrainian Funds, Support From Space Is Already Producing Results On Battlefield - Reznikov

Thanks To Ukrainian Funds, Support From Space Is Already Producing Results On Battlefield - Reznikov

Thanks to Ukrainian funds, support from space is already producing results on the battlefield. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced this on Facebook, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

Reznikov noted that thanks to the donations of Ukrainians, the Defense Forces of Ukraine gained access to information from the group of satellites of the ICEYE company. One satellite is fully operational for the needs of Ukraine's defense, and almost two dozen more are involved when necessary.

"When, in June, the Ministry of Defense proposed to direct the funds collected for the purchase of Bayraktars to the strengthening of space intelligence, we expected a qualitative increase in the capabilities of our troops. So far, all our expectations have been fully fulfilled," he said.

Reznikov said that the Defense Forces of Ukraine, primarily the combat brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, have been receiving a stream of data from the ICEYE satellites for some time, and the images are directly deciphered and processed by military intelligence specialists of the Ministry of Defense who have undergone appropriate training.

"For obvious reasons, I cannot reveal all the details, but just imagine: in the first two days of the satellite's operation, more than 60 units of combat equipment were detected, which the enemy tried to disguise in forest strips and behind other obstacles. It was detected because ICEYE satellites collect information by technology Synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The specified equipment would be very difficult or impossible to detect by means of optical satellites. Instead, the coordinates of the "hidden" were quickly transmitted to inflict fire damage. In particular, in the area of ​​Khreshchenivka and Ukrainka settlements in the Kherson Region, as well as nearby Novoselivka in the Donetsk Region. In fact, in just these two days, the enemy lost armored vehicles worth more than the cost of the entire project with satellites," he wrote.

Reznikov emphasized that the main thing is that it helps save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.

He noted that Ukraine received the opportunity to combine data from optical satellites from partners and SAR data, and satellites with SAR technology become especially relevant in autumn and winter, when the weather is bad, cloudy or snowy.

Reznikov thanked everyone who contributed to the financing of this initiative, and added that there are currently several interesting ideas that have the potential to become people’s projects.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in June, thanks to the initiative of the Serhii Prytula Foundation and blogger Ihor Lachenkov, Ukrainians collected UAH 600 million in a matter of days to buy 3 Bayraktar drones for the Ukrainian army. The manufacturer of drones - the Turkish company Baykar - decided to transfer these drones to Ukraine for free.

In agreement with the security forces, a satellite was purchased with "people’s money".

However, in social networks, such an acquisition caused an active discussion of the expediency of such a direction of "people's money".

Then Reznikov assured that the Defense Forces of Ukraine received qualitatively new opportunities thanks to the "people's satellite" purchased with money collected by citizens.