First, what about the rules on arms control in Europe? Italy must observe the Common Position (eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/…) & consider human rights when granting an export license. Plus there’s an arms embargo on dealing with Russia (europa.eu/newsroom/highl…)
We cross-referenced Italian Govt records on export licences to reveal items granted for sale, transaction value & end-user country. For example we can see this 2011 lic. for sale of 10 Iveco M65E19WMs paid for & exported to Russia. Big H/T to @FrancescaCost2 for her skills here.
Why have those safeguards? Well it's to stop things like this happening - people like Al-Hassan (سهيل الحسن), commander of Syrian Army's Tiger Forces, using EU arms. He’s also subject to EU-restrictive measures for "violent oppression against the population in Syria"
Through #geolocation, we can tell that the above footage (from here ) of Al-Hassan & the Iveco was filmed during the attack on Aleppo Power Station (محطة حلب الحرارية). The power station is located here: goo.gl/maps/5PqEPsqRr….
Images from after the attack on the Aleppo Thermal Power Plant also locate an Iveco LMV at the power plant. Image below was taken here: goo.gl/maps/eXMwTAccn…, as Syrian Army forces moved in. Original imagery of attack posted by @LinaArabii ✌️
We’ve also geolocated the Iveco LMV used by Desert Hawks in Al-Rassafah (below) & by Desert Hawks/Hezbollah in Palmyra Offensive at Western Bayarat. You can read up on the full documentation of the geolocation and chronolocation in our @bellingcat post. bellingcat.com/news/2019/12/2…
So we’ve located the LMV in Syria & we’ve found some of the people that use it. But how did it get to Syria? It was transported by air, and by sea. For instance: below we can see Iveco LMVs en route to Syria by sea (H/T to the legendary @YorukIsik ✌️) 👇
In this footage () we can see the Ivecos loading on a plane at Chkalovsiy Airport in Schyolkovo (Щёлково) and landing in Syria’s Hmeimim Air Base (قاعدة حميميم الجوية), here: goo.gl/maps/HXptj2QFn….
The continued sale of the Iveco LMV to Russia indicates a breach of safeguards. But Iveco is just one of many arms manufacturers identified in the @bellingcat & @LightouseReports #EUArms project that has breached these safeguards: bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-eu…
Through this methodology of arms tracing, over countless projects in Europe we have geo/chronolocated & dug paper trail of arms transfers that fall outside commitments of these rules. Through this work, we’ve been able to contribute to claims like this
A big part (& underplayed) is the work of investigators such as @leone_hadavi, @Bashar24836440 & @FrancescaCost2 who worked on this project from their laptops at home. These great investigators are up for hire - this work is a testament to their skills. H/T to you all ✊
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Today is #WorldMentalHealthDay. As digital investigators we're often not experiencing what we see online, in real life, but it can still affect many.
So to keep doing the important documentation and investigative work online, here's a few practical steps you can take.👇
1. When sharing graphic content with colleagues and friends, remove those previews and give a little graphic warning indicator. There's always a little 'X' in the corner to remove preview.
2. Consider changing the settings on your social media platforms so you're not absorbing horrific content while doomscrolling. You don't have to filter it out, but at least stop the autoplay.
I was recently on a flight across Australia when I spotted this massive figure on the ground. It led me on a digital journey to find out what it was, how it got there and who made it.
I'm going to explain a bit more about what it is in this thread, and how I found out. 👇🧵
Without internet on the plane, I made a screenshot on my phone of the location (yes it was on flight mode) and later used flight tracking to pinpoint exactly where I saw it.
Using @flightradar24, I traced the path my plane took and found the spot!
Next stop: @googleearth 🗺️
I zoomed into the area and there it was — this huge humanoid figure etched in the Australian outback. Measuring 2.7km tall and covering an area of more than 1.7 square kilometres, it's a sight to behold.
Despite our reporting last week on the fake network of pro-Trump MAGA accounts, there appears to be many more accounts actively posting the exact same content. This one, @brenda_otto_ with 18k+ followers, is stealing photos from an Australian Instagram model in Queensland.
Here's another fake MAGA account, @Tracy_Miller044, stealing images from a fashion blogger (a popular one too).
@Tracy_Miller044 - if you want to reach out and talk about your work, why you're running these campaigns etc, I'm open.
Here is @Sarah_Hickey__
Sarah is stealing the photos of a Czech Instagram influencer to create a persona claiming to be a MAGA republican conservative with 40k+ followers and a blue tick (which means it's apparently not misleading).
A network of fake accounts are posing as young American women, posting pro-Trump content and disinformation, but they’re hiding behind, and manipulating, the images of European fashion influencers.
Our latest investigation at @Cen4infoRes. Details in this thread 🧵👇
Our full analysis can be seen at @Cen4infoRes here: . We also collaborated with @CNN to dig out the human stories behind those who had their photos stolen
One of the accounts is Eva. She lives in the US, and likes hanging out at the beach and posting to her 5000+ followers on X. Eva posts strong opinions against LGBTQ people and the US Democratic party and is a loyal supporter of former US president Donald Trump.
Today US DoJ announced seizure of two domains and the search of 968 accounts on X used in a "Russian-government backed campaign" to spread disinformation.
Affidavit includes all of the accounts requested from X 👇
The DoJ announcement said the campaign used elements of AI to create fictitious social media profiles purporting to belong to individuals in the United States, which the operators then used to promote messages in support of Russian government objectives. justice.gov/opa/pr/justice…
The affidavit for the accounts on X shows that all of the accounts were registered to email addresses that were either using the domain 'otanmail' or 'mlrtr' justice.gov/d9/2024-07/aff…
A new coordinated network of fake accounts pretending to be ‘Real Sikhs’ is targeting activists, stoking tensions and promoting Indian Govt narratives.
Who are they, what do they post, and how do they spread their campaign? Report:
Let's take a look 👇🧵 info-res.org/post/return-of…
Before we start, it's important to note that this is not the first time we have exposed a network like this at @Cen4infoRes. In Nov 2021 we identified a similar network. But in the months after the accounts were removed, new accounts popped up.
In this new network, what we do know is the network of fake accounts posts content to undermine Sikh activists, stoke cultural tensions and promote Indian government narratives. But who are the accounts, and how are they posting so that we can catch future attempts?