Thread by @bellingcat

What can licence plates tell us about the movement of Russian military vehicles towards the border with Ukraine?

Quite a lot, as @AricToler explains in this guide bellingcat.com/resources/how-…

@AricToler Professional and enthusiast researchers alike have sought to gather information about the the types of military vehicles that have been on the move in Russia over recent months.

@AricToler One open source technique that has helped with this task is the monitoring of vehicle licence plates.

@AricToler More so than most western nations, there are a wealth of resources and databases that catalogue both notable and ordinary licence plates in Russia.

@AricToler The colour of Russian licence plates, their formatting, as well as the numbers they display can reveal an array of interesting details

@AricToler Platforms such such as Migalki.net, Avto-Nomer.ru
and Nomerogram.ru, meanwhile, provide excellent resource for researchers to dig into

@AricToler Using these tools can help reveal much about not only about regular cars, but military and police vehicles as well.

@AricToler For example, as the guide shows, it was possible to draw a number of conclusions about this military truck (which was pictured recently near the Ukrainian border)

@AricToler This vehicle, it transpires, is part of Rosgvardia (National Guard) of Russia’s Interior Ministry.

This deployment is relatively new, with analysts noting that this may be a worrying escalation in the build-up on the Ukrainian border.

@AricToler Read the full article, which details the whole background and technique that allowed us (and other researchers) to reveal the above information about this vehicle here bellingcat.com/resources/how-…