Maria Berlinska was criticized for data on drone manufacturers: what happened and how she responded
30 May 00:34
Ukrainian volunteer and founder of the Victory Drones project Maria Berlinska found herself at the center of a scandal after she published a table with data on Ukrainian companies that produce unmanned aerial vehicles on Telegram, [ komersant] reports
The document contained the names of the companies, their locations, phone numbers, and websites – information that, according to Berlinska, has long been in the public domain.
The publication caused outrage when one of the Russian OSINT projects thanked the volunteer for the “gift”: they said that now it was easier for them to determine who exactly in Ukraine was producing drones and where these companies were located.
After Maria Berlinska published a table with data on Ukrainian drone manufacturers on social media, a wave of indignation erupted in the comments under her posts. Many users, including both military personnel and volunteers, left angry comments criticizing her actions and calling for the table to be immediately deleted.
People accuse Berlinska of recklessness and believe that such information should not be public, even though some of it is available in open sources. Some call it a “gift for the enemy,” while others call it a “blow to common security.”
Commentators emphasize that in wartime, even public data can become dangerous if it is collected and structured in one place, especially with contacts and geographic location.
Calls such as “Remove this table immediately,” “Why make it easier for the Russians?” and “This is dangerous for manufacturers and for the country ” appear en masse under her posts, indicating a high level of anxiety in society and a special sensitivity to defense information.
Meanwhile, Berlinska responded to the criticism and said that the table with contacts is “as old as time” and that the Russians have allegedly known about it for a long time.
“The information in it is only the information that manufacturers, schools, workshops asked to be included. That is, only the information that is publicly available. You’d be better off with the fact that until recently, the registers contained real open data on production facilities, with addresses. Which we fought to close down. Not the numbers and websites that are given for advertising. But it’s a long and uninteresting process to understand. It’s easier to read Lachen or any other blogger,” she wrote.
In particular, blogger Igor Lachen, who was the first to emphasize Berlinskaya’s publication, noted that Russians are not sparing Iskanders now, even for something that has not been working for a long time.
“So, find me similar information on drones from the Russians)) Russia is now hunting for everyone involved in the production of drones, so I recommend that many people do not share any information as much as possible,” Lachen argued.
Bohdan Krotevych, former chief of staff of the Azov movement, also joined the discussion. He emphasized that not all Russian agencies have analytical departments, but most have agents waiting for instructions.
“That is, in fact, you do the work for the enemy yourself: ‘Hey, here’s the list’. For its part, some other enemy unit working in another area sees that it has a “mothballed agent” in that particular area, capable of, for example, mining an object. And immediately – here’s all the information you need. Every military man understands this, so it’s even hard for me to describe such logical and obvious information. But when such situations happen not for the first time, it is a reason for a reaction from the responsible authorities,” he explained.
Former Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Malyar also stated that the Russians are indeed working on our open sources. She explained that Russia has several departments in different agencies and spends all day studying everything on our social networks and media.
“Moreover, they read in the original language – without Google translator – because they have long ago recruited our traitors. The argument that the Russians know everything without us is false. Without us and without our public activity, they do not know a lot,” added Malyar.
Who is Maria Berlinska?
Maria Berlinska is one of the most famous volunteers in Ukraine. She was among the first to engage in aerial reconnaissance at the front after the war began in 2014. After serving in the Aidar battalion, Berlinska founded the Aerial Reconnaissance Support Center, and after the full-scale invasion, she founded the large-scale Victory Drones project, which trains specialists in unmanned aerial technology for defense needs.
She is also known as a human rights activist, the initiator of theInvisible Battalionprojects about women in war and the Women’s Veterans Movement.
This is not the first time that Berlinska has been in the center of public attention. In August 2023, she was among the organizers of a closed event for military personnel and volunteers in Chernihiv, which was attacked by Russia with a missile. The attack killed 7 people and injured more than 200. At the time, she explained that the meeting had been coordinated with the military administration and was aimed at improving the effectiveness of defense technologies.
Despite the criticism, Berlinska continues to work on the development of Ukrainian defense initiatives and emphasizes that her actions are aimed solely at strengthening the frontline and supporting specialists who create “eyes and wings” for the Armed Forces.
