It is the 4th day of Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. While reactions to the intervention came from around the world, the Google Maps claim of Jeffrey Lewis, a professor from the USA, was on the agenda.
SUGGESTED THAT THE INVASION WAS NOTICED HOURS AGO
Jeffrey Lewis, professor at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies in Monterey, California, said that Russia noticed the attack on Ukraine hours before it officially announced it, on Google Maps, Google’s maps application.
according to @googlemaps, there is a “traffic jam” at 3:15 in the morning on the road from Belgorod, Russia to the Ukrainian border. It starts *exactly* where we saw a Russian formation of armor and IFV/APCs show up yesterday.
Someone’s on the move. pic.twitter.com/BYyc5YZsWL— Dr. Jeffrey Lewis (@ArmsControlWonk) February 24, 2022
GOOGLE PROVIDES “TRAFFIC JAM” INSTRUCTIONS IN MAPS
Following Google Maps, Lewis and his small team of students detected a “traffic jam” on a road leading from the Russian city of Belgorod to the Ukrainian border at around 3:15 p.m. local time on Thursday, Insider reports.
“We watched the traffic jam going south along the highway. So they were on the road and heading towards Ukraine,” Lewis said. said.
Lewis said on Twitter that the traffic jam data was most likely not from soldiers carrying smartphones, but from civilians who were probably stopped by being stuck at barricades, and Google Maps recorded this.
Thus, traffic jam data on Google Maps and satellite imagery of a Russian armored unit helped them realize the invasion had begun hours earlier.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday the Russian attack on Ukraine.