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@SZ Journalist, Open-Source Investigations @SZ_Investigativ #OSINT #verification

Feb 23, 2022, 9 tweets

The Russian-triggered Ukraine border tension involves increasingly incidents around critical infrastructures, especially around #pipelines
A short #OSINT thread on working with data on pipelines and tools that help in the process
(1)

Yesterday, a UKR armed forces officer posts a video of a burning electricity plant. Filmed @ Luhansʹka Power Station in Schastia, as @bibken geolocated, we find the name of the assoc. city mentioned. Then google dork the plant. Rest is SOP #GEOSINT (2)

Another example: few days earlier showed the value of ready-at-hand geo-information on pipeline infrastructure:
Media name-drops pipeline involved in a blast, in UKR. Problem: Druzhba gas pipeline isnt involved in breakaway Luhansk. Easy factcheck with interactive maps here (3)

Protip: Using @GlobalEnergyMon Fossil tracker, allows searching for pipelines, good to check pipeline presence. For Ukraine, we can get all pipelines recorded, by type, even those still being built.
globalenergymonitor.org/projects/globa…

For a more precise calc of pipeline infrastr. use @openstreetmap with tags offered in the Wiki docs via the API system of overpass-turbo.eu
If we want all the elements across UKR, use: “man_made”="pipeline", export as KML to Google Earth Pro or QGIS (or use @wikimapia)

Then there is the simple PNG-Overlay option in Google Earth Pro. Use a vector file e.g. from ENTSOG, and overlay in Google Earth
How-to guide here:
support.google.com/earth/answer/1….
entsog.eu/sites/default/…

Underwater pipelines cause also problems, not in Ukraine but in Syria, as the example in 2019 shows, as PAX/Bellingcat verified. Knowing the underwater pipeline network is a win...
ceobs.org/pax-bellingcat…

The fractured pipeline fracture near Long Beach, CA, as a great number of vessels anchored outside San Pedro Bay, was found becs one knew where the San Pedro Bay Pipeline was. For tracking vessel tracking use @MarineTraffic & maps by BOEM

Finally, #OSINT with pipeline data has another political component: Another pressure point (pardon the pun) Sanctions halt/close Nord Stream 2. And in 2020 Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline infra. enjoyed naval escort, as parts will need to travel via the ocean
aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/23…

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