The new data exposes Russian government officials and military members to public scrutiny.
Since the Russian military stepped into Ukraine in February, massive volumes of information concerning the Russian state have been made public. The data is broadly classified into two types: deliberately disclosed by Ukrainian officials or their friends and that which hackers acquire. One data file purportedly includes the personal information of 1,600 Russian soldiers stationed in Bucha, a destroyed Ukrainian city during Russia’s conflict: This looks to be one of the first instances of a government doxing thousands of military people in one fell swoop. Countries have retained or attempted to establish lists of their adversaries throughout history.
However, they were often associated with counterinsurgency operations and were generally not made public. Publishing people’s identities and personal information during a conflict is an ethical minefield. Researchers are already scrambling to collect and store thousands of TikTok videos, Telegram communications, and social media postings in evidence-worthy forms: The lists may serve as a starting point for investigators investigating possible war crimes in Ukraine. Each piece of information may function as a bit of component of a much greater jigsaw.
U.S. and UK intelligence agencies have been attempting to sabotage Vladimir Putin’s attempts by declassifying material. Ukraine has recruited a volunteer information technology army that has targeted Russian websites and businesses, intending to bring their services down. This effort resulted in publishing massive amounts of data about Russian-connected companies and government entities. Anonymous vowed a “cyberwar” against the Russian government. “We’ve never seen this much data coming out of Russia,” says Joel Best, co-founder of DDoSecrets.
