World
November 5, 2024 14:40
ukraine - Ukrainian defense officials accuse Google of accidentally leaking the locations of important military bases. The incident has caused frustration within the Ukrainian unit after images were released following a Google Maps update.
Ukrainian defense officials have accused Google of leaking the locations of important military bases, causing great frustration within the Ukrainian unit. The incident occurred after a Google Maps tool update.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the misinformation combat department of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, expressed anger towards the tech giant for what he described as irresponsibility. "Imagine the situation. Google shows updated images on maps revealing the location of our military systems," Kovalenko wrote on Telegram. "The Russians are actively spreading these photos. What is wrong with this world?" he added.
In a subsequent statement, Kovalenko mentioned that representatives of Google had reached out to Ukraine and were working to address the issue. He did not specify which military locations of Ukraine had been exposed by Google.
Russian military bloggers appeared to confirm Google's information leak by publishing screenshots. They identified new air defense systems surrounding an airport near Kiev. The images were identified as Patriot air defense missiles of American origin on a Google satellite photo from September 28, 2023. These were absent in previous Google satellite photos.
A Z-blogger, a term used to describe warlike Russian nationalists, reposted Kovalenko's complaint. Sarcastically, he wrote next to a laughing emoji, "Tomorrow will come, and then you will be killed."
Google has scaled back its operations in Russia following Moscow's large-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, although its services, including Google Maps, are still available in the country. The Russian website reportedly shows Crimea, the Ukrainian territory that Moscow invaded and annexed in 2014, as part of Russia.
The leaking of Ukrainian missile defense systems is the latest setback for Kiev's armed forces. Over the weekend, Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian military, stated that his soldiers are now facing one of the fiercest Russian offensives since the start of the war.