A Citizen-like chatbot allows Ukrainians to report to the government
when they spot Russian troops — here's how it works
<https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-military-e-enemy-telegram-app-2022-4>
In February of 2020, the Ukrainian government released a new app that
would make good on President Zelenskyy's key campaign promise: to root
out bureaucracy and digitize key parts of the government. In peacetime,
the app Diia was meant to be a central hub for citizens' interactions
with their government, allowing someone to access their identity cards,
pay their taxes, and receive public services.
Now, during wartime, the country's Ministry of Digital Transformation
has launched a new feature called E-Enemy over Diia, allowing any
Ukrainian citizen to inform the army when they spot Russian troops and
infantry. "Anyone can help our army locate Russian troops," an update on
March 10th by the ministry. "Use our chat bot to inform the Armed
Forces," it said.
As footage of the invasion flooded social media and Telegram, Ukrainian
security forces relied heavily on intelligence gathered over the
platforms to find and locate Russian troops. The country's internal
affairs ministry even created a preliminary version of the chatbot to
source information on Russian troop movements over the app. At least in
one instance, the government announced intelligence gathered over
Telegram helped Ukrainian troops find and destroy enemy convoys near
Kyiv. But, according to Slava Banik, director of E-services development
at the Ministry of Digital transformation, verification of intelligence
took a long time through the previous version and often Russian bots
would flood disinformation onto the platform.
Diia, according to the Ministry of Digital Transformation, changes that
by requiring users to login and authenticate themselves via the
e-passport system. "We know for sure it's a real person sending the info
and not a Russian bot," Banik told Insider.
While users log in to E-Enemy through Diia, they are then redirected to
a Telegram chatbot that asks users if they are the primary source for
the intelligence, alongside basic information about the types of troops,
whether they were moving on foot or in vehicles, the number of troops,
and the time of contact. According to the ministry, over 260,000 people
have used the app since it launched last month.
Sofiya Danylova, an editor at a local Kyiv publication, used the earlier
version of the app before it was linked to the Diia platform. Russian
troops were entering through Chernihiv, a city close to Ukraine's border
with Belarus. Danylova, who's family friends lived in a village close to
where troops were advancing, pleaded with Danylova to find a way to
inform Ukrainian troops of the situation. They were unfamiliar with
Telegram or how to use chatbots. Danylova found the chatbot and uploaded
videos of Russian troops advancing that her friends had taken. "Our
friends identified the V marking on the Russian vehicles moving along
their villages," Danylova said. To be safe, she also sent the
information to a friend that served in the Ukrainian army.
Slava Churpita, a bar owner in the country's capital, had a similar
experience. She was asked to use the bot by a neighbor, who had just
seen possible Russian drones flying over her area. Churpita sent the
information provided by the witness, making sure to credit that it was
second hand information. But she said, she was ultimately unsure of how
useful the information might have been.
[...]
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