Science & technology | AI at war

How Ukraine is using AI to fight Russia

From target hunting to catching sanctions-busters, its war is increasingly high-tech

Pixelated soldier with an digital target overlayed
Illustration: Nick Kempton

IN THE run-up to Ukraine’s rocket attacks on the Antonovsky Bridge, a vital road crossing from the occupied city of Kherson to the eastern bank of the Dnipro river, security officials carefully studied a series of special reports. It was the summer of 2022 and Russia needed the bridge to resupply its troops west of the Dnipro. The reports contained research into two things: would destroying the bridge lead the Russian soldiers, or their families back home, to panic? And, more important, how could Ukraine’s government maximise the blow to morale by creating “a particular information environment”?

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This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “A calculated defence”

From the April 13th 2024 edition

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