Section: bellingcat (UK)
MH17 – The Open Source Investigation, Three Years Later
The full report can be downloaded here Today, we are releasing a report summarizing all major open source evidence surrounding the downing of MH17 in an easy-to-read 73-page survey. This report is broken into thirteen chapters, summarizing the circumstances that led to the downing of MH17, information on the Buk missile launcher that downed the...
Advanced Guide on Verifying Video Content
One of the most common issues for researchers and journalists is verifying user-generated video content, most often found on social networks and file sharing platforms, such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and so on. There is no silver bullet to verify every video, and it may be nearly impossible to verify some videos short of acquiring the...
Russia Attempted to Influence French and Dutch Elections With Suspect Polls
Introduction Earlier this week, Vladimir Putin denied alleged Russian interference in the French presidential election. But evidence shows Russian state media used dubious opinion poll data in the run up to the French election to promote Francois Fillon, at a time when mainstream polls showed him trailing in third place. Shortly before the French...
MH17 – Drivers of the Russian June and July 2014 Buk Convoy Trucks
The full report can be read here On 13 May 2015, Bellingcat published a report about the involvement of the Russian 2nd Automobile Battalion of the 69th Separate Logistics Brigade (military unit 11385) and the 147th Automobile Battalion for Material Support (military unit 83466) in the transport of Buk unit vehicles of the 53rd Anti-Aircraft...
Pre-MH17 Photograph of Buk 332 Discovered
Since the July 17, 2014 downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 (MH17), Bellingcat has published numerous articles concerning the anti-aircraft missile launcher that downed the passenger plane–Buk 332, of Russia’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade. This Buk missile launcher (TELAR) was previous dubbed “Buk 3×2” due to an obscured middle...
Russia Tries to Influence Le Pen to Repeal Sanctions
Sanctioned Russian officials try to lobby Le Pen to Lift sanctions Leonid Slutsky and Marine Le Pen. Image posted by Slutsky on Facebook In late March, Marine Le Pen visited Russia, where she had meetings with Vladimir Putin, the Chairman of the Russian Duma Vyacheslav Volodin and Leonid Slutsky’s Committee on International Affairs. Volodin...
Russia Seeks to Influence European Politics Through Youth Wings of Far-Right and Far-Left Parties
Evidence suggests the Kremlin is reaching out to youth organizations, including the youth wings of European parties in order to work on goals such as campaigning to lift EU sanctions against Russia. Other youth groups have been targeted to help boost Russia’s image abroad. While these tactics are reminiscent of Soviet efforts to win the...
Montenegro Coup Suspect Linked to Russian-backed “Ultranationalist” Organisation
Montenegro coup suspect linked to Russian-backed “ultranationalist” organisation: Russian influence in the Balkans is exerted through media, demonstrations and Biker groups. According to the Telegraph’s investigation into the attempted Montenegro coup, published February 18th, Predrag Bogicevic, Nemanja Ristic, Vladimir Popov and Eduard...
Photographs of Ukrainian Buks Geolocated, Nearly Three Years Later
On July 15, 2014, a chaplain for the Ukrainian Armed Forces named O. (short for “otets,” or “father”) Gredil Mykhailo uploaded a handful of photographs showing a Ukrainian Buk missile launcher in a field that appeared to function as a Ukrainian military camp. The photographs would not be noteworthy if it were not for two things: the fact that...
Tankspotting: T-90As in the Donbass
The presence of Russian T-72B3 tanks in eastern Ukraine has previously been established and covered on Bellingcat. The tanks have reportedly been used near Ilovaisk, the Luhansk airport and even Debaltseve. The T-72B3 represents post-Soviet tank development by the Russian Federation, and was not exported to or fielded by Ukraine. Another...
