Drones and DNA lab: United States donated assistance to police to record Russia's crimes in Ukraine

According to Ukrinform, this was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"Today, on February 16, a ceremony of transferring US technical assistance to investigative units took place at the Situation Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. We are talking about 66 cars, 250 drones, 9 3D ground laser scanning systems with software and a DNA laboratory," the statement said.

At the beginning of the event, Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko thanked the U.S. authorities and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Bridget Brink personally for their comprehensive assistance to Ukraine during almost two years of full-scale war. In particular, he said that during this time, the U.S. Embassy's Law Enforcement Section has provided over USD 287 million in aid to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In her turn, Brink emphasized that today's gesture by official Washington to provide technical assistance is evidence of its steadfast support for Ukraine on its path to justice and punishment of the Russian Federation for war crimes.

"We are providing this assistance so that your units can collect evidence as safely as possible and prove to the world the heinous crimes committed by the Russian army on the territory of Ukraine. My country highly values your values, and on behalf of the President of the United States, I reaffirm our full support," the US Ambassador emphasized.

In total, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the United States has provided  USD 17 million in assistance to the National Police investigative units.

Klymenko and Brink inspected the transferred equipment. The minister noted that its use will allow for high-quality and fast recording of all Russian crimes. For example, the ANDE 6C high-speed human DNA profile laboratories, which have already been provided to all main departments of the National Police, allow for the establishment of a DNA profile in just over an hour and a half.

"Police officers have undergone appropriate training to prepare forensic specialists to work with such high-speed DNA profiling laboratories. We already have successful cases of identifying people killed as a result of Russian missile strikes on our cities. 3D scanners and unmanned aerial vehicles are also important for our work. They are used to inspect the sites of events and objects that have been destroyed as a result of missile strikes, artillery shelling and bombing," the minister emphasized.

At the same time, the head of the National Police, Ivan Vyhivskyi, noted that the technical assistance will be sent first to the frontline regions that are under enemy fire on a daily basis.

Klymenko showed the U.S. ambassador the work of the Situation Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to collect evidence of Russian crimes in Ukraine, as well as how the center's employees predict future threats.

"Today Ukraine is fighting for justice. We are liberating our lands and saving our people. And we are extremely grateful that we are not alone in this fight for life. We have the strong support of the US government. Thanks to your help, we are giving the occupiers a worthy rebuff and we know that we can win," the Interior Minister emphasized.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, investigative units of the National Police of Ukraine received armored vehicles to document Russia's war crimes as part of an international technical assistance project from the US government.