Civilian intelligence

StopTerror is a Ukrainian Internet resource which has been active for almost three months. It collects information on the location and movement of the enemy’s forces, facilitates coordination among the ATO units and cooperation between Ukrainian troops and local population in the preparation of military operations. The initiative makes it possible to minimize casualties among Ukrainian troops and civilians. The activists of this project helped the troops during the liberation of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Shchastia, Rubizhne, Popasna, Mariupol and other places in Donbas.

The masterminds of the project include civilians, Donbas Battalion, the project is also backed by the Ministry of Interior. The Day talked with the StopTerror team (in particular, with Natalia, who would rather not disclose her last name for security considerations) about the project’s achievements and needs.

How did project StopTerror arise?

“At present Internet resource StopTerror relies on volunteers and men from Donbas Battalion, and the organization also processes the information provided by ordinary citizens. Project StopTerror began when residents of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts started applying to public authorities for protection, including that of their lives, legal rights, property and so on, and in most cases the settlement of these issues was in some or another way obstructed. Nothing was being done to redress the locals’ grievances, there was no response to their appeals. We have been getting letters describing this plight.”

How does your organization interact with the military? Could you, please, name your main achievements in three months’ time?

“We cooperate with artillerists, providing them with current information for fire adjustment in the area of active hostilities. We provide the police and secret services with tips on terrorists and their illegal activities, possible presence and operations of subversive groups both in liberated and occupied areas.

“Over three months the project’s initiative group has collected and passed to relevant Ukrainian public authorities, police, and military more than 10,000 messages from residents of the occupied territories. Military structures are extensively relying on our information and referring to the project. Some Ukrainian media also follow the information on our website and use it in their information releases.”

How do you verify information?

“The received information is verified by data from several sources or via feedback from local residents. As soon as we receive information about subversive groups in occupied cities, we immediately pass these data on to official structures capable of counteracting terrorists.”

Which regions address you the most often?

“We receive the most information from the dwellers of towns and villages in battle areas, or from their relatives who fled to safety but keep contact with them. Also, recently we have got warnings of subversive groups and terrorist activities in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa oblasts and in Crimea.”

Who typically calls StopTerror’s hotline?

“Volunteers or just involved citizens, who know something about the terrorists’ movements or have suspicions concerning certain individuals’ illegal activities.

“We receive all information on anonymous grounds, mostly people ask us to pass their tips on to relevant services and authorities. We cannot pass such data to the police station, say, in an occupied city, that is why we send it to an authorized structure of Ukrainian government, which can provide adequate response.”

What kind of information do the Ukrainian military lack the most in Donbas?

“They lack current information from local patriots, who know the terrain and who can get and pass on first-hand information and detailed data about the fortifications and the numbers of enemy’s fighters, the facilities they have seized, the movement of the occupants’ vehicles, or their weapons emplacements.

“We pay attention to the terrorists’ cooperation with locals: these tips are collected, analyzed, and passed on to Ukrainian authorities. We classify a part of the collected information at the request of our military, as these data have strategic importance for the Armed Forces and the voluntary battalions.”

What kind of assistance does StopTerror need?

“Our project largely depends on volunteers’ activity and assistance, we need a sponsor for their organizational needs. We also need information assistance very badly, it would allow more people to learn about what we are doing and thus help our cause. Besides, today we need official help from military structures, at present we feel no support from the Ministry of Interior.”

Is an initiative like StopTerror necessary in peace time?

“Now necessity has arisen to revise the mechanisms of cooperation between all public authorities and their interaction with the population. With the help of project StopTerror and other organizations, the cooperation must be carried out both during hostilities and in peace time, so that state might fulfill its duties before citizens, to ensure human rights and the integrity of society in accordance with the fundamental principles of the Constitution of Ukraine.”