After the video of the shooting of a Ukrainian serviceman, who shouted "Glory to Ukraine!" in the face of the occupiers, was published on the Internet, representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine turned to the experts of the Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic Examinations (KNDISE) to identify the identity of the serviceman. The Institute's experts told how exactly they identified Oleksandr Matsievskyi through a forensic portrait examination.
KNDISE explained that various methods and technologies are used to conduct such an examination, such as comparing the sizes and proportions of individual parts of the face, analyzing facial features, textures and skin features, as well as other parameters that allow establishing the identity of the image with the sample, etc.
"For research, KNDISE experts were provided with a video recording, which spread on the Internet without censorship filters, and photos of two more alleged persons for identification. At first, there was an opinion about the identity of one person, but in the end, the identity of another person was confirmed - a fighter of the 119th Territorial Defense Brigade, Oleksandr Matsievskyi," the experts said.
In general, it is within the framework of a portrait examination that the question is most often resolved, the same person is depicted in different photographs, and its identification is carried out. Experts cannot reveal all the intricacies and methods of expert research, but note that it is always a study of a set of factors that will allow an accurate conclusion to be drawn.
"Research is faster when a person reflects not only their common features, but also their individual characteristics. It can be scars, any individual facial features, defects, tattoos, etc. For example, the auricle of each person is individual, it is like a fingerprint, it is not repeated in people. Cartilage determines the external shape of the shell, also taking into account protrusions, curls and anti-curls, pits and depressions, ear lobes, etc. Also, the incision between the eyes is not repeated, if the person has not had plastic surgery. All these points help to create a general picture", explained KNDISE.
The main difficulty in researching the identity of the fallen soldier Oleksandr Matsievskyi was that the image being studied was not of sufficiently good quality. Exceptionally, for illustration, the experts even used an image processed with the help of artificial intelligence technology.
"One of the many identification factors of the fallen Ukrainian hero in the photo is one feature, at first it seems that it is a facial defect above the eye, similar to a scar, but literally in a month or two, the man received a combat wound in the same area. That is, an expert opinion is a collection of key markers that are complementary to each other, and experts can give a final answer based on them," KNDISE summarized.
