Amazing new Conflict Armament Research @conflictarm report on Russian weapons in the Donbas makes use of @C4ADS' Seamless Horizons data environment to find out how European components ended up in Russian UAVs in the Donbas
@conflictarm analyzed a UAV that was downed by Ukrainian forces in 2017 near Mariupol. It is similar to an Orlan-10, but not identical.
Interestingly, it was manufactured from Western European components — both authentic and counterfeit. But how did they end up in this UAV?
3/
@conflictarm contacted the manufacturer of the engine, Weinhold GmbH.
"[Weinhold GmbH] indicated that it had sent the part
to World Logistic Group, a company based in
the Czech Republic, in October 2013."
3/
CAR found World Logistic Group's record in the Czech business registry, along with its owners names and dates of birth.
They then matched these with Russian passport records in @C4ADS's Seamless Horizons — indicating that the company was Russian-owned
4/
Most interestingly, CAR used @C4ADS data and other PAI to identify that a third director, who joined the company during the period it acquired the engine, was a member of the Russian security services
5/
Specifically, this Russian individual was a member of the Public Council of the Main Directorate of Public Security of Moscow Region and of the Public Council of the Federal Penitentiary Service"
6/
If you haven't checked out this report yet, I highly recommend it. @conflictarm is doing groundbreaking work to combine hands-on analysis of SALW and publicly available information to provide unique insights into arms flows.
7/7
(pls ignore that I messed up the numbering of this thread)
Revisiting this — better to characterize that the add'l director of WLG ас associated with Russian security agencies rather than a member of the services. More information on Moscow Oblast GURB here: gurb.mosreg.ru
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It's been 10 years since South Sudan won its independence. Corruption by the ruling elite and transnational illicit flows have denied the country both peace and prosperity.
THREAD on @C4ADS' work to illuminate the networks behind violence & corruption in South Sudan.
Last year, we launched conflict.id, a project to catalog imagery of weapons and vehicles used by warring parties in South Sudan prior to the UN embargo. It provides a window into the origins of weapons sustaining the conflict, and a baseline for conflict researchers.
This includes everything from analysis of weapons like NORINCO CQ rifles contributed by @CalibreObscura to MRAPs and other armored vehicles used by the SSPDF and non-state armed groups.
Groundbreaking report from CNN's @clarissaward on human rights abuses by Russian private military contractors in the Central African Republic. Vitally important that this information is now being documented publicly. THREAD.
CNN interviews indicate that Russian mercenaries have been involved in the indiscriminate killing of civilians, torture, and forced disappearances, corroborating earlier statements by the UN Working Group on Mercenaries news.un.org/en/story/2021/…
The new UN Panel of Experts report on #Libya is groundbreaking in its use of flight analysis to demonstrate arms embargo violations. I'm really proud of the work our team @C4ADS contributed to support their investigations (including the image here:)
Our analysis of ADSB flight data with our platform @icarus_flights (viaualized here in #keplergl) illuminates how companies like Cham Wings have provided an air bridge to support Haftar