FBI will help collect evidence of war crimes by Russians in Ukraine

Ukraine is working with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. companies to collect evidence of Russian war crimes, such as geolocation and cell phone information.

This was reported by Reuters.

Ukrainian authorities are collecting digital information from battlefields and Ukrainian cities ravaged by war after Russia invaded the country last February, said Alex Kobzanets, an FBI special agent who previously worked as the agency's legal attaché in Ukraine.

"Collection of that data, analysis of that data, working through that data is something the FBI has experience working through," Kobzanets said at the RSA cybersecurity conference in San Francisco.

That work includes looking at information from cell phones, forensic analysis of DNA samples, and analysis of body parts collected from battlefields, he said.

"The next step is working with national U.S. service providers, and transferring that information...obtaining subscriber information, obtaining geolocation information, where possible," Kobzanets added.

The work reflects deepening cooperation between the U.S. and Ukraine in cyberspace, where Russia has been a common adversary for both countries.

The agent added that the U.S. FBI has been working for the past year and a half to help Ukraine also identify Russian collaborators and spies operating in Ukraine and Russian forces that were operating outside of Kyiv when the invasion took place.

Author – Anastasiya Glotova, 26/04/2023