3D scanning solutions

How Artec 3D is supporting Ukraine

Luxembourg Directorate of Defense donates Artec 3D scanners to Ukraine for documenting war crimes

Donating Artec Leos to Ukraine

Ms. Natalya Anoshina, Chargé d'affaires of Ukraine, scans military uniform with Artec Leo.

LUXEMBOURG, Nov. 14, 2022 | The Luxembourg Directorate of Defense has delivered a full package of pioneering Artec 3D technology to Ukraine to capture forensic evidence in 3D. While the Ukrainian Armed Forces, territorial defense forces, and civil authorities have been working on cleaning up conflict zones, potential evidence of crimes can be contaminated, destroyed, or lost. This makes it especially important to capture and document evidence of war crimes in Ukraine before it disappears.

The package, which has already arrived in Ukraine, includes 30 handheld, wireless Artec Leo scanners, extra batteries for extended scanning time in the field, high-precision calibration kits, and 5-year Artec Studio software licenses for processing and analyzing the 3D data captured. The data can also be securely uploaded and stored on a cloud, where it can be safely shared with, accessed, and processed by investigators anywhere in the world.

Luxembourg’s Minister of Defense, François Bausch, said: “Luxembourg strongly condemns the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and has made a substantial effort in terms of lethal and non-lethal military equipment supplied to Ukraine, worth currently 74 million euros, representing over 16% of the Luxembourg total defense budget for 2022. However, our support is not limited to military equipment. We also support the investigation of Russian war crimes committed, with the aim to bring those that are responsible to justice. Therefore, we provide the Ukraine prosecutor’s office with state-of-the-art Luxembourg technology, 30 Artec Leo 3D scanners, which will greatly help with the collection of evidence of these war crimes committed.”

Donating Artec Leos to Ukraine

3D data collected with Artec Leo is automatically projected on the scanner's built-in touchscreen and can be streamed to a laptop.

This state-of-the-art equipment will enable Ukrainian forensic teams to create highly accurate 3D models of objects and scenes – digital twins of all available evidence for sharing with other investigative groups and the International Criminal Court. The potential uses of these 3D models include forensics analyses such as precise damage assessments, bloodstain pattern analysis, bullet trajectory reports, autopsy documentation, virtual reality (VR) presentations to juries in court, 3D-printed evidence, and more.

“Our forensics specialists have been working around the clock, documenting the evidence and establishing the facts of Russian aggression,” said Natalia Nestor, Deputy Director of Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise. “On behalf of the Ukrainian people, together with our teams of experts, I want to personally thank you for the support and assistance provided to us by the Luxembourg people and their government during this difficult period of our history. This much-needed equipment will accelerate our victory, increase the credibility of our cases, and draw us nearer to a victory for all of humanity.”

Artec Leo is the world’s only embedded 3D scanner, a handheld, totally wireless device with a built-in screen designed to quickly and accurately capture data in any location. Its speed and ease of use, as well as its ability to upload scanned data directly to the cloud, make it a solution particularly suited for forensics, where it is crucial to collect data as fast as possible. Artec Leo is manufactured in Luxembourg by Artec 3D, a global leader in handheld and portable 3D scanners and software. With its award-winning, high-tech 3D scanners, Artec 3D has been at the forefront of 3D scanning solutions for 15 years and has remained committed to developing technology for social good.

Donating Artec Leos to Ukraine

Scanning with Artec Leo is easy to pick up in minutes even if you have no prior experience with 3D scanners.

“Artec 3D scanners are very popular among forensic experts all over the world for fast and accurate evidence collection. We are glad that Ukrainian experts now will also have access to this technology that will save them a lot of time in acquiring, documenting, assessing, and bringing to the court evidence of war crimes being committed on a large scale in their country,” said Art Yukhin, President and CEO of Artec 3D. “We admire the heroic people of Ukraine, and are honored to contribute to and support Ukraine in holding war criminals and terrorists accountable for their crimes.”

Beyond the package for capturing forensic evidence, Artec 3D has been committed to working alongside Ukrainian partners and authorities from the beginning of the war. In partnership with Luxembourg-based association providing humanitarian crisis relief in Ukraine, LUkraine, Artec 3D donates 1% of every Artec Leo sale to ensure that help in the form of first aid, medicine, shelter, food, and clothing is consistently reaching those who need it most. Additionally, with KODA Ltd, Artec 3D's dedicated Ukrainian partner of 13 years, and Skeiron, a Ukrainian team dedicated to 3D scanning Ukrainian monuments, Artec 3D is currently working to preserve priceless parts of Ukrainian heritage in 3D that are at risk of being lost or damaged.