Oleksii Rezikov. Credit: Planet video
LA PLATA, Maryland — Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Rezikov said Western providers of satellite technology and advanced weapons “are already partners with Ukraine’s military intelligence” and should use it to perfect their products under real-world battle conditions.
“Ukraine is not asking for charity,” Rezikov said in a presentation to Planet Labs’ Oct. 16 Investor Day. “We are offering partnership. Ukraine today is a living testbed of innovation where technologies are validated under real conditions and can be successfully scaled to global markets. It will have a stamp: Combat tested in Ukraine.
“You can invest in analytics and AI for satellite imagery, resilient communications systems that work under attack, dual-use technologies, data infrastructure, secured cloud environments and human training,” Rezikov said.
Planet has been providing satellite imagery and analytics to Ukraine for the past three and one-half years and has watched the rapid development of its domestic expertise.
“Ukraine is one of the most sophisticated users, arguably the most sophisticated user, of Earth observation data and AI because necessity is the mother of invention,” Planet Chief Executive Will Marshall said in introducing Rezikov to the investor conference.
Rezikov is a former deputy prime minister and was minister of defense between 2021 and 2023.
“From the very first days of the invasion, Ukraine became a laboratory of defense innovation,” Rezikov said of Russia’s February 2022 attack.
“We have learned to integrate traditional military analysis with the cutting-edge technologies, from AI-driven data analytics to commercial satellite images. This experience, forged in war, holds lessons for every democracy that faces potential aggression.
“From the very start, the West’s intelligence capabilities were placed at the service of the Ukrainian armed forces. This gave us a significant edge in reconnaissance and targeting. It was especially true for for space-based intelligence provided by Western military satellites and by numerous commercial Earth observation companies.
Rezikov said Ukraine’s military forces, fortified by many young recruits who were more at home with new technology than veterans, quickly learned the value of commercial space assets including SpaceX’s Starlink broadband constellation and Earth observation satellite imagery providers Vantor, the former Maxar; Planet Labs and radar satellite builder Iceye of Finland.
“Today we can see the results on the ground. When we combined this intelligence with 155-millimeter artillery from NATO standards, and HIMARS and other types of MLRS systems, using GMLRS [guided multiple-launch rocket systems], precision rockets with a range of up to 90 kilometers, Ukraine achieved a decisive fire advantage in the second half of 2022.
“In this new environment, data and intelligence became as critical as weapons.
Since the start of cooperation with Planet Labs, Ukraine’s Intelligence Service or Directorate has ordered and received around 50,000 satellite images of enemy territory and assets.
“Based on that imagery, operations were carried out that destroyed enemy equipment worth $1 billion, including the destruction of the landing ship Minsk, the submarine Rostov-on-Don, strategic aviation facilities and defense industrial sites.
Ukraine’s industrial base has been especially effective in building and deploying drones, but Rezikov said Russia’s electronic warfare complicates their use.
“Space imagery from Planet has become the main reconnaissance tool at operationally strategic depth,” he said.
“At this moment, we use these images to monitor enemy strategic aviation, track equipment depots deep within Russian territory, plus unfriendly territory of Belarus, their proxy; confirm strikes and plan follow-up actions.”