New Delhi, April 23: A alarming new report has revealed that China may have the ability to access between 80 and 90 per cent of all surveillance cameras operating across Ukraine, including cameras mounted on military reconnaissance drones — a vulnerability that poses a severe and direct security threat during the ongoing war with Russia. The findings, published by Ukrainian technology media outlet dev.ua, have triggered fresh concerns about foreign technological infiltration in a nation already under active military conflict.

Hikvision Cameras Dominate Ukraine's Surveillance Infrastructure

The report highlights that Chinese manufacturer Hikvision installed approximately 7,000 cameras across Kyiv as part of the city's Smart City project by 2020, according to Octava Capital founder Oleksandr Kardakov, who was cited in the report. These are not ordinary cameras — they are intelligent systems capable of facial recognition, licence plate identification, and continuous security monitoring at sensitive locations including schools and kindergartens.

Hikvision is currently the most widely deployed video surveillance brand across Ukraine. The report warns that if China has embedded a backdoor within these systems, it could effectively monitor street-level activity across the capital and other major Ukrainian cities in real time.

Drone Interception Risks Already Materialising

Beyond static cameras, the report raises serious alarms about the use of Chinese-manufactured components in Ukrainian military drones. According to the report, there have already been documented instances of Russian forces intercepting control of Ukrainian drones — a scenario that could be linked to exploitable vulnerabilities in Chinese-origin hardware and software embedded in these unmanned systems.

The possibility of real-time drone feed access or remote control hijacking represents a catastrophic operational security risk on an active battlefield, analysts note.

Chinese Tech Influence Extends to Telecom and Energy Sectors

The security concern does not stop at cameras. The report points out that Chinese-manufactured batteries installed at mobile network base stations frequently carry remote control capabilities, raising fears of potential network disruption or surveillance. Additionally, a significant proportion of smartphones in use across Ukrainian networks are also of Chinese origin.

In the energy sector, brands such as Ecoflow, Bluetti, and Deye — all Chinese manufacturers — have become top-selling household energy solutions in Ukraine amid the ongoing energy crisis caused by Russian strikes on power infrastructure.

Regulatory Precedents in the US and UK

The report draws attention to regulatory actions taken by Western allies. In the United States, both Hikvision and Dahua have been listed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as posing an unacceptable risk to national security. In the United Kingdom, sensitive government and defence facilities are legally prohibited from deploying Chinese surveillance systems under intelligence legislation.

Ukraine, however, has not yet implemented equivalent restrictions, leaving critical urban and military infrastructure exposed to potential foreign exploitation.

US Tech Dominance Provides a Counterbalance

The report acknowledges that the United States is the only other nation with comparable technological influence over Ukraine. American companies control dominant payment platforms — Visa and Mastercard — as well as major cloud infrastructure providers including AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. US firms also lead in artificial intelligence, with OpenAI (ChatGPT), Anthropic (Claude), and Google Gemini shaping the information environment.

As the war continues, pressure is likely to mount on Ukrainian authorities to audit and replace Chinese-origin technology across critical infrastructure — a move that would require significant international financial and technical support. The findings are expected to intensify global debates around supply chain security and the risks of Chinese hardware in conflict zones.