Our founder Eliot Higgins unpacked what to do about disinformation in the weekend edition of the FT. He suggests education should be at the forefront of any strategy to tackle this growing issue. https://www.ft.com/content/0b9469e5-7111-445f-a7d2-464ed21748c6
Another fake BBC report has been brought to our attention circulating online, claiming that a Ukranian politician was involved with weapon sales to Hamas. Again Bellingcat has not reported on this subject and the claims and quotes included in the 'report' are falsified. https://twitter.com/dannmuts/status/1732379690516820340
We're aware of another fake video circulating made to look like a BBC report containing falsified Bellingcat research. It claims that Zelensky's former adviser Oleksiy Arestovych has spent over $500k on private flights. Bellingcat hasn't released any investigation on this topic.
In October a similar false BBC report circulated falsely claiming that Bellingcat had verified Ukrainian weapons sales to Hamas. These fabricated videos appear similar in style and were both circulated on Pro-Kremlin channels https://twitter.com/bellingcat/status/1711788647425409104?s=20
Did you know that the Bellingcat team not only carries out investigations using open sources but also builds tools for research? You can find our latest tools here on our github: https://github.com/bellingcat
On October 6, 2023 a video started circulating of alleged Ukrainian fighters in Sudan. It was subsequently shared by Telegram channels such as .@truexanewsua and Ukrainian sites such as babel.ua. https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1710241167751671844
Babel UA claimed their sources in Ukrainian intelligence said the men were Ukrainians fighting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) who were backed by the Russians via Private Military Company Wagner.
The video is essentially several pieces of footage stitched together. It starts with a man in camouflage, shooting a sniper rifle from the top of a mountain just west of Omdurman. Bellingcat was able to geolocate his position. (15.708352, 32.426962)
At this stage, our team can't confirm whether this soldier is Ukrainian. The camouflage pattern on his uniform resembles the commercially available Multicam pattern. This pattern has reportedly been used by multiple militaries.
Weapons expert @CalibreObscura told Bellingcat that the precise model of the firearm could likely not be determined, partly due to the mesh and partly due to the quality of the footage.
We geolocated later footage showing four men lying behind a rifle to the same location as the one individual sniper who is also seen in the group footage
One example is of this location where a drone strike hit on camera. We matched it to this location on Google Maps (15.661269, 32.489888), in the Wad Nubawi district of Omdurman.
In short, the footage of the riflemen and the drone strikes is new and was clearly filmed in Sudan. However, more work is needed to verify the allegiance of the armed men through open sources.
Bellingcat is an independent investigative collective of researchers, investigators, and citizen journalists brought together by a passion for open source research. Want to support our charity? http://bellingcat.com/donate/Buy our book "We Are Bellingcat" here: http://bit.ly/2EP09ENOur award-winning podcast series: http://apple.co/36LJURI