Ukraine seeks US help to replace Chinese CCTV on Russian front: IO
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Ukraine requests the US finance and designate supplies for surveillance systems as the two nations believe China could be passing information to Russia.
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Ukrainian servicemen stand at a position close to the border with Belarus, Ukraine, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023 (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
Ukraine has requested that the US State Department finance and select a video surveillance supplier to monitor its Russia front as the current CCTVs have China government links according to a new report published by Intelligence Online (IO).
The State Border Service of Ukraine (SBGS), according to the report, has been using, so far, "non-harmonized systems acquired from various producers."
The report underscored the SBGS used Milestone Systems, a Danish system, alongside two Chinese systems Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co (Hikvision) and Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co (Dahua Technology). However, the two Chinese companies have been considered, by the report, "close to the government in Beijing" and as such Kiev has sought to cut its ties with them.
IO reported that images captured by the surveillance cameras "could be passed on to the Russian state" especially since the firms also equipped Russia's surveillance drones. Knowing that the US would share their interest in isolating Chinese suppliers, Kiev requested Washington's finances and supplies alternative options.
The US State Department, given its rules and regulations, must apply the Federal Acquisition Regulation clause 52.204-26 which prohibits Chinese subsidiaries from being possible choices for service providers and their deliverables, reported IO. It is important to note that the above-mentioned report also highlighted that the same would apply to any "equipment produced or supplied by an entity that the US secretary of defense, in consultation with the director of national intelligence or the director of the FBI, believes to be owned or controlled by Beijing."
IO also reported that the Ukrainian border services equipment will include "a mobile telescopic tower, a multi-sensor optical system, and infrared cameras, together with radio communications equipment and an autonomous power supply system," given that the front "must be able to accommodate an anti-drone intelligence, surveillance & reconnaissance (ISR) radar."
