The @nytimes previously proved Russian responsibility for bombing Syrian hospitals. Now, we use the “cockpit tapes” to investigate two of the deadliest airstrikes on civilians in Syria this year. nytimes.com/video/world/mi…
@nytimes My colleague @evanchill threaded some of our reporting steps and verification details. I'll add the geolocations of all five Russian Air Force strikes we looked at, as they may be of future interest for the (open source) community monitoring Syria.
@nytimes @evanchill First, the Russian Air Force strike on Mercy Village (قرية الرحمة), a settlement for IDPs, on August 16, 2019, at 7:17pm. Geolocation of single impact crater: 35.629095, 36.609603. We wrote about how we geo- and chronolocated it here: nytimes.com/2019/12/01/rea…
@nytimes @evanchill *WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC FOOTAGE*
The weapon landed in the middle of a courtyard where families had gathered. The dead include include a pregnant woman and her unborn baby. This video is filmed just meters away from the impact location. @hrw report: hrw.org/news/2019/10/1….
The weapon landed in the middle of a courtyard where families had gathered. The dead include include a pregnant woman and her unborn baby. This video is filmed just meters away from the impact location. @hrw report: hrw.org/news/2019/10/1….
@nytimes @evanchill @hrw Second, four Russian Air Force airstrikes on Maarat al-Numan in the morning of July 22, 2019. Both @BBCArabic (bbc.com/news/av/world-…) and @SkyNews (news.sky.com/video/special-…) have published in-depth reports into what many called “the market attack”. Russia denied any involvement.
@nytimes @evanchill @hrw @BBCArabic @SkyNews But using the cockpit tapes, we can show definitely that a Russian pilot carried out these strikes. The first two, at 8:36am and 8:44am, hit the same busy commercial area at breakfast time. Geolocation: 35.645522, 36.676871.
@nytimes @evanchill @hrw @BBCArabic @SkyNews Time and geolocations for the third and fourth strike by the same pilot on Maarat al-Numan that morning:
• “Candy sent” at 8:54. Impact area: ~ 35.649202, 36.682809
• “Candy sent” at 9:00. Impact area: ~ 35.651369, 36.686392.
• “Candy sent” at 8:54. Impact area: ~ 35.649202, 36.682809
• “Candy sent” at 9:00. Impact area: ~ 35.651369, 36.686392.
@nytimes @evanchill @hrw @BBCArabic @SkyNews The tweets above are just details for those that are interested. Please do consider watching our full report using the Russian Air Force cockpit tapes to investigate two of the deadliest airstrikes in Syria this year.
@nytimes @evanchill @hrw @BBCArabic @SkyNews As always, this is a massive team effort. My colleague @evanchill has thanked and credited many of those that assisted us in this tweet and the ones that follow.
