Ukraine faces huge security threat due to Chinese access to surveillance systems: Report

New Delhi, April 23 (IANS) China could potentially access 80–90 per cent of surveillance cameras in Ukraine, including those on reconnaissance drones, posing a direct security threat during war and chances of drone interception, a new report has claimed.

The report from Ukrainian media dev.ua said that there have already been cases of Russians intercepting the control of Ukrainian drones.

The report cited Octava Capital founder Oleksandr Kardakov as saying that Chinese manufacturer Hikvision installed 7,000 cameras in Kyiv Smart City project by 2020.

These smart cameras perform tasks such as recognising licence plates and faces along with monitoring security in schools and kindergartens.

“If China has a backdoor, it can see a lot on the streets of the capital. And not only in the capital. Hikvision is the most popular video surveillance system in Ukraine,” the report further stated.

In the US, Hikvision and Dahua equipment feature in the Federal Communications Commission’s list and hence an unacceptable risk to national security of Ukraine. Sensitive facilities that fall under Chinese intelligence legislation are prohibited from deploying surveillance systems in the UK, the report added.

The report said concerns extend well beyond cameras to mobile operators’ base stations. Chinese‑made batteries at mobile operators’ base stations often have remote control capabilities. Most of the smartphones in the networks are also from China.

Further energy equipment from Ecoflow, Bluetti, Deye are bestsellers in Ukraine, which provide household electricity homes during the energy crisis.

“Only one country, besides China, has more tech influence on Ukraine — the USA. United States control the largest payment systems — Visa, Mastercard and also the cloud — AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google. The States control AI — Open AI (ChatGPT), Anthropic (Claude), Gemini,” the report noted.

—IANS

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