Ukraine Sees “Priceless” Digital Battlefield Data as Key to Western Support

Ukraine is looking at how to share battlefield data with allies, the country's deputy prime minister said, calling the vast trove of stored information one of Kyiv's "cards" to strengthen its position as it negotiates support from friendly countries.

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"The data we have is priceless for any country," Mykhailo Fedorov, who heads Ukraine's digitalisation ministry, told Reuters in an interview, adding that Ukraine is currently "very careful" about sharing it. Vast datasets are crucial for training artificial intelligence (AI) models to recognise patterns and make predictions. That need is particularly pressing in the burgeoning global defence sector. While datasets for most civilian activities can be found commercially, the 21st century's biggest war between advanced armies has given Ukraine a set of combat data with no parallel, which could help Kyiv prove its value as an ally to Washington. Since Russia launched its 2022 invasion, Ukraine has collected reams of meticulously logged battlefield statistics. And with the war increasingly fought by drones, it now has millions of hours of combat footage filmed from the air. "I think this is one of the ‘cards’, as our colleagues and partners say, to build win-win relations," Fedorov said, an apparent nod to U.S. President Donald