William Goodhind: Satellite imagery, Ukraine and the future of war crimes investigation

Photo Courtesy: M. Lewinsky via Wikimedia Commons

Most of us have been following the War in Ukraine for some time. We’ve heard about developments in the news, watched videos and seen photographs. Yet few will understand the war quite like UCL alumnus William Goodhind.

Photo Courtesy: William Goodhind

For a start, he was there in February 2022 when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. In fact, he had been on patrol in Ukraine on and off since conflicts first emerged in 2014. But since returning to the UK, he has also become a satellite imagery analyst and investigator. He has consistently followed and reported on the War in Ukraine from above and that has given him a unique perspective. 

Recently, I was fortunate enough to have a conversation with Mr Goodhind and this is my take on his story: how he came to be involved in humanitarian affairs, why he launched Contested Ground and his insight into the world of satellite imagery and modern war crimes investigation.   

From Bloomsbury to Luhansk

Like most Pi readers, Mr Goodhind was a UCL student - this is where he completed a second Masters in Countering Organised Crime and Terrorism. But his interest in humanitarian affairs really developed during a previous Masters in War Studies at Sussex University. That was followed by an internship in Brussels, then work for the UK Civil Service and eventually an opportunity to do field work for the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. 

Photo Courtesy: William Goodhind; translation: ‘I am Donbas, I am Ukraine’

Photo Courtesy: William Goodhind; translation: 11 May, Day of the Republic

In this way, Mr Goodhind quickly transitioned from his postgraduate studies to the frontline, where he patrolled throughout the Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts in Eastern Ukraine - or what Russia (but not other international powers) recognise as the ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ and the ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’. He described how he “actually finished [his] UCL masters dissertation in Luhansk, in between patrols, so the two merged together”. He then stayed in Ukraine until 2017 and again returned to the mission in 2020, right up until the outbreak of war in February 2022. 

Contested Ground

It was at this point that Mr Goodhind decided to take on a very different type of challenge. Keen to make the most of his firsthand knowledge of Ukraine and Russia, but having been evacuated back to the UK, he decided to launch Contested Ground: an open access research project that would “bring satellite imagery to life”.  

Satellite imagery tends to play a very fleeting role within journalism and the media, where it is often used simply as decoration or a quick insight into recent events. Mr Goodhind explained that his aim was to expand the potential of such imagery and explore how it could be used further, in “academia, by an investigator, or anyone who wants to use this data in a more meaningful way”. 

And so, he started producing reports like the one above. Importantly, these reports don’t just go back to 24 February 2022. Russia’s war against Ukraine started back in 2014 and a great deal of imagery is available which can demonstrate how the war has developed over the last decade, right through to the present day. Contested Ground “opens up that new dimension to show what has happened since the very beginning”. 

In particular, Mr Goodhind analyses scenes that have political, military, or humanitarian significance. This could include a number of things, ranging from the movement of military forces to the building of a trench system to the direction of artillery fire. In turn, such reports can aid the investigations conducted by civil society organisations (like Bellingcat), law firms and investigators, as well as EU-backed organisations (like EuroJust). 

It is now known, for example, that the Kremlin orchestrated the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine into Russia and Belarus - this was one of the cases brought forward by the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. While Mr Goodhind’s reports weren’t used in that particular case, they can help in such investigations to establish a chronology of events and attribute culpability for actions. 

The War in Ukraine in 2024

When I asked Mr Goodhind whether he had expected the outbreak of war in 2022, he was quite clear that no one had seen it coming. That’s not to say that he and others weren’t aware of important developments, but rather that the launching of a full-scale war just seemed so reckless: “it would be an extraordinary development and, as it played out, Russia completely misjudged it”.  

As we approach two years since the war’s outbreak, Mr Goodhind was also clear that the conflict will not end anytime soon. Ukraine will not give up its territory and Russia’s intent is the same as it was from the beginning: “to conquer and dismember Ukraine”. 

He stressed, however, that this is not a stalemate. With dwindling Western support for Ukraine, Russia is applying immense pressure and making some territorial gains, albeit at enormous costs to human life and equipment. Ukraine is also making gains, particularly against Russia’s naval forces and in its improved defence against Russian aerial attacks.

Mr Goodhind also pointed to some key factors that could tilt the war in either direction in 2024. The US and Russian elections will be crucial, as will the amount of modern technology provided to Ukraine – “things like Storm Shadow, SCALP and Taurus missiles, F-16 fighter jets, more tanks…things that make a real difference on the battlefield.”

Modernising investigation

It was evident from our conversation that the conflict in Ukraine exemplifies a new age of warfare. Cutting edge technologies like those just mentioned are playing a transformational role, which is why it is all the more important that Ukraine’s western allies provide such aid in larger quantities and at greater speed. The EU has now agreed to send a €50 billion package to Ukraine, but similar packages are only just being deliberated in the US.   

And new technologies are not only essential to the Ukrainian military cause, but also to the investigations ongoing alongside the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made a Special Tribunal against Russia an important element of his peace formula. What shape this will take - whether it will be a UN backed tribunal, for example, as was established for Yugoslavia and Rwanda - is uncertain and will likely depend on how the war ends.

Yet Mr Goodhind stressed that a lot of cutting edge investigative work is being done behind the scenes. He sees it as his personal mission “to create those reports, fill in those gaps in our knowledge, establish that chronology, work out what happened where and when and support that process”. That way, when the war does eventually end, international investigations will be prepared to deliver some sort of justice. 

Democratising data

The very fact Mr Goodhind could launch Contested Ground and start producing such reports is also testament to another aspect of such new technology: the democratisation of data. 

Mr Goodhind described that on the ground missions are extremely useful because “you’re seeing things first hand and have…personal experience of what it’s like to be living in a warzone”. But he highlighted that you might also encounter problems, like a road that is impassable, or a situation which is too dangerous. 

Photo Courtesy: William Goodhind

Photo Courtesy: William Goodhind

Satellite imagery has completely transformed our access to the world as “you can now delve into areas…where you would never normally be able to have access”. And the technological sophistication is only improving. Coverage and image resolution are rapidly increasing, as is the size of the satellite ecosystem - Elon Musk’s Starlink is still paving the way but will soon be joined by the EU’s €6 billion satellite constellation and many others. 

And such technologies are not just providing access to more areas of the world, but also to more people. Mr Goodhind sources most of his imagery through Google Earth, which is an application that anyone can access - in a sense, any UCL student can now make the leap from Bloomsbury to Luhansk. 

Of course, such innovation does not come without its risks. Modernisation brings with it the possibility of cyber-attacks which directly target satellite platforms. And Contested Ground also has to include a lot of the metadata that sits behind the imagery, so that others can verify its integrity and ensure the data has not been tampered with.  

But the bigger picture here is clear: “this is the most well-documented war to date and that gives a lot of scope for everyday citizens to contribute towards investigations”. War crimes and humanitarian investigations are no longer just the responsibility of governments, but can be supported by civil society and citizens. 

In these ways, satellite imagery “expands our world”, changing how we access data. All of us can now “better understand where things happen, when they happened and how they affected other activities”, in Ukraine and beyond. And Mr Goodhind and projects like Contested Ground are at the very forefront of that expansion.

Web: Contestedground.info

Twitter / X: @ContestedG