Ukraine is leveraging an immense archive of drone footage from the ongoing conflict with Russia to train artificial intelligence (AI) systems capable of battlefield decision-making, marking a significant step toward AI-driven warfare.
The non-profit Ukrainian digital platform, OCHI, has taken on the task of collecting and analyzing video streams from over 15,000 drone operators active in the war. Reports indicate that since 2022, the system has amassed around 2 million hours of footage—equivalent to 228 years of battlefield video—forming a massive dataset to refine AI models.
Initially developed in 2022 to offer military leaders a real-time view of battlefield activities, OCHI displayed footage from nearby drone squads on a unified screen. Over time, its team realized the broader potential of archiving these videos, leading to the creation of an extensive digital record of the war.
Oleksandr Dmitriev, the founder of OCHI, stated, “The footage can be used to train AI models in combat tactics, spotting targets, and assessing the effectiveness of weapons systems.”
Many drones are already equipped with AI that enables autonomous navigation and precision strikes without human pilots. Ukraine is also advancing the development of drone swarms—networks of drones controlled by a central system to execute coordinated missions, further demonstrating how AI is reshaping modern warfare.
