Russia identifies Putin’s opponents using cameras
Reuters, after reviewing more than 2,000 legal cases, has found that cameras have played a significant role in the arrest of hundreds of Russian protesters. According to these findings, it has been revealed that most of these individuals were detained in 2021 after joining anti-government demonstrations.
Additionally, through interviews with more than 24 detainees and by referring to information collected by a Russian monitoring group, it was determined that with the onset of Russia’s military attack on Ukraine in February 2022, officials began using cameras with facial recognition capabilities to counter public protests. This means that facial recognition helps the police identify and suppress Kremlin opponents preemptively whenever they wish.
Darya Korolinko, a lawyer from the independent human rights group OVD-Info, which monitors political repression in Russia, said this is a new practice used to calm the situation, especially in Moscow, where protests have been more frequent than anywhere else, and people have been informed that they are being watched by facial recognition cameras.