The pattern for Russia denying attacks on civilians in Ukraine is well established: an attack occurs and Russia says that they absolutely do not, and would not attack civilians, and any claims that they do are damned lies (or words to that effect). Yet attacks occur constantly. And through their dogged denials — and claims of absurd alternatives — the Russians manage to create a pretense of doubt, however slight.

Last week there was a video of Ukrainians investigating a small brown sedan, heavily damaged, standing on a semi-rural road a short distance from an intersection. The car has been attacked. There were two dead elderly people inside, a man and a woman, slumped in the remains of the front seats. In the video we see nothing that explains why they were attacked; just a pulverized couple dead together for the last time in their silent, shattered car.

At one point a house directly across the road is visible.

Soon after, footage from the security camera that apparently hangs from the eave of that house was shared with the world as well. It is chilling.

As the couple approaches the intersection an armored vehicle comes into view on the cross road ahead, apparently in a convoy, and immediately fires on the car which is hit and stops a dozen yards short of the intersection. The armored vehicle turns further and stops, still in the intersection but now facing the car, and immediately fires an explosive round into the passenger compartment, which partially disintegrates in a bright flash, pieces flying. There is stillness and smoke for a moment, then the armored vehicle fires a second round, also on target. Most of the driver side door flies toward the camera. The car is in ruins. Nothing moves. And then the armored vehicle turns clumsily on its tracks, and accelerates into the flow of other vehicles in the rapidly moving convoy.

This video, plus others that have come from security and home monitoring cameras in Ukraine, give Ukrainians and the world one more tool to counter the constant, strident lies of Russian denial. Because of this particular camera we know what happened to this couple, though, beyond guessing, not why.

Ukrainians need weapons and partnership in their fight, but, perhaps, they also need more cameras, inexpensive, seeded across the country in tremendous numbers; transparency landmines in the path of the invaders, automated witnesses everywhere to heal one of the first casualties of war: the truth.

Addendum: What if, when a region of the world is threatened, one of the first UN responses — inexpensive and nimble — is to seed the countryside and cities with micro cameras. These specially designed “witnesses,” in the thousands, small and hard to notice, with months of standby battery and storage, locked to satellite Internet, instantly uploading to UN monitors whenever they detect movement, would wait, and watch, and record.

Some of that technology is science fiction at present, but not much. Implementing some version of this, what might change? How much less possible would aggressive wars, genocide and plunder become if there were always witnesses?