Twitter data could have been a source of Kremlin intelligence during the 2014 Ukraine conflict

Kremlin analysts could have used Twitter as a source of military intelligence to inform their actions in the 2014 Russia–Ukraine conflict, a study has found. University of California experts showed that location-tagged tweets by Ukraine residents could have been used to map out sentiments towards Russia in real-time. The map they made of pro-Kremlin regions turned out to bear a striking resemblance to the actual areas to which Russia dispatched its special forces. Specifically, this included Crimea and regions in the far east of Ukraine -- where the incoming forces would have been most likely to be seen as liberators. In contrast, the data could also reveal those areas where dispatching forces would have lead to greater resistance and corresponding casualties and costs.