Safe City System to Be Deployed Near Ukraine Border

The Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) is planning to launch a pilot version of the “Safe City” system in several regions bordering Ukraine due to the risk of sabotage, according to sources close to the project cited by Kommersant. The system is expected to be deployed over the next year and a half in Crimea, Sevastopol, Voronezh and Belgorod regions, and Krasnodar Krai. Authorities plan to request 15 billion rubles from the federal budget for this initiative.

The “Safe City” system includes industrial motion sensors, surveillance cameras with analytics (including facial recognition), and environmental monitoring. According to a source, the system will help reduce “the consequences of threats to the population and civil infrastructure” and ensure “prompt decision-making.” The source also noted that the implementation of the system has become “extremely relevant” due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the “significantly increased threats of sabotage attacks on civilian infrastructure.”

Currently, similar systems are already operating in several cities and regions, including Moscow and St. Petersburg. According to a report published on the capital’s portal, the “Safe City” system helped solve 5,085 crimes in 2020, with 160,000 surveillance cameras installed in the city at that time.

The “Safe City” system has also been used to detain activists in the subway and to identify participants in rallies for administrative prosecution after the fact. For example, last year, journalist Anna Loyko from “Sota” was identified and detained in this way. On Russia Day this year, more than 30 people were detained in the Moscow metro using cameras with facial recognition; most had previously been detained for violating protest regulations.