Palantir helps Ukraine prosecute Russian war crimes

Ukraine's prosecutor general's office is working with Palantir to pool and process data from investigators across European countries, the company said.

Palantir's software uses intelligence and satellite imagery to create a map of evidence. It may, for example, identify Russian equipment nearby crime scenes or aggregate photographs Ukrainians have posted to social media that investigators regard as relevant.

Palantir quoted Ukraine's prosecutor general as saying: "Analyzing this amount of evidence would be virtually impossible without modern IT solutions." More than 78,000 crimes have been reported in Ukraine since Russia invaded more than a year ago, which Palantir's software will process.

It will take Ukraine a long time to prosecute war crimes due to overlapping court jurisdictions and limited access to suspects and crime scenes.

In addition to guarding against evidence tampering, Palantir's technology allows investigators access to otherwise ring-fenced data.

Recently, the Denver-based company reported its first profitable quarter since it began aiding U.S. intelligence services two decades ago. Palantir is not charging for the war-crimes work for now.

Its partnership with Ukrainian prosecutors will centre on alleged crimes of aggression ordered by Russia's leadership and on claims of systematic attacks on the Ukrainian people, Palantir said.