Mark Krutov Profile picture
Sep 1 15 tweets 8 min read
🧵/ link in the last tweet. It’s not only Russian tourists who reveal positions of the Ru army by posting photos on social media with geolocation turned on. Soldiers themselves do that too. Here are some recent examples from the Kherson region, area of the UA counter offensive.
On August 27th, a user called "Sergey Shturman" posted 2 photos of himself near BM-21 "Grad"(archive.ph/GnfWc). He didn’t switch off geo, so here it is: water pump station near Berislav. No other buildings are in the vicinity, which proves it's correct (46.8621, 33.3627)
Russian forces and its proxies from the L/DNR often use such civic infrastructure objects to set up their bases. Another set of photos from VK (archive.ph/ImV0r) reveals the base in Berislav itself, in the office of a local water supply company (46.836054, 33.394393).
Russia is not only is stealing Ukrainian grain, but seizing its agro-industrial enterprises. This photo, as enabled geolocation proves (archive.ph/RCB9N), was taken on Aug. 27th in the office of an Agrofusion company tomato paste factory (46.4961, 32.5200).
The owner of the company, Sergey Sypko (on the photo), lives in Mykolaiv and is one of the richest people of Ukraine (91th in the Forbes Ukraine list). Another Ukrainian agro-industry businessman from Mykolaiv, Alexey Vadatursky was killed in the shelling on July 31 in this city.
Something really interesting. This guy, Pavel Frolin, posted his photos with a bunch of grapes and a raspberry (archive.ph/7u2mE) on Aug. 9th. Geotag of this and several other photos postet by him brings us to the field north of Kherson, near Stepanivka (46.7143, 32.5828).
He has several recent photos taken allegedly at their positions, but with geolocation turned off. By searching through dozens of photos of the area, we with @pustota were able to confirm that they were taken near the nearby quarry (46.7177, 32.5876) and UA police training grounds
Now this: on Aug 25th he posted the photo (archive.ph/khprs) of a HARM missile, erroneously calling it "HIMARS". Only 5 days later Ukraine confirmed the use of HARM missiles by posting a video of them being fired from a MiG-29 (h/t @Rebel44CZ for the quick missile ID).
No geotag again, but now as we’ve learned their approximate location from the "grape photo" we were able to find it – a parking lot of a nearby private winery and hotel called "Курiнь" (46.7197, 32.5810). Thanks again to @pustota for nailing it down.
There are several other photos in Frolin’s account, proving that they at least visited the winery, thanks to details matching Google users' photos – clean restaurant dishes, freshly baked pizza, metal corrugated panels, etc.
I tried to figure out what happened to the owner of the winery and hotel, Mykola Khalupenko, head of the local branch of Agrarian Party of Ukraine, but was not lucky. He didn’t read my message on Facebook, all social media accounts of the business are deleted for some reason.
The problem of soldiers using smartphones and even not turning off geolocation is well known to Russian authorities. They even passed the law forbidding smartphones in the army, but its effect was very limited. Also, Tik-Tok became popular, making control even more difficult.
It even took me like 20 minutes to figure out how to exclude geo from my photos (while keeping it for other apps) when I bought a new phone last year! (Yes, I know it can be done faster, but I'm sure this thread will not change the overall situation).
Still, worth mentioning that nearly all examples from this thread are photos posted by L/DNR soldiers, not Russian military personnel (photo from Frolin's VK account, taken in 2016).
For more geolocation gems click this link. Use Google for translation into your language. svoboda.org/a/selfi-dlya-v…

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More from @kromark

Aug 29
Unloading SPARTA II ship which allegedly brought S-300 SAMs from Syria to Russia, in port of Novorossiysk. Comparison of @planet images taken on Aug. 28th/29th. SPARTA II passed Bosphorus on Aug. 24th, following Turkish ambassador in Kyiv being summoned.
For those of you who asked for raw images in addition to the animated GIF. A floating crane and a small vessel near it are gone on Aug. 29th photos. Several new containers can be seen stacked in the port, all this not necessarily connected to this unloading. ImageImage
Some background. Looks like good news for Israel too. ImageImageImage
Read 6 tweets
Aug 26
🧵/ link in the last thread. I spoke with yet another soldier from 64th Motor Rifle Brigade. Petr Danilov is suspected by Ukraine of committing atrocities in Bucha. He claims he was not there and describes the scale of catastrophe the Russian army experienced near Kyiv. Image
Here’s the guy. He sent me his military ID and other docs proving he was dismissed from the army back in 2018 and never signed the contract again (he was fired for abuse of power and even prosecuted and got probation). Image
Here are his dismissal documents dated 2018 and his ID with matching entries about dismissal. ImageImageImage
Read 12 tweets
Aug 24
Look, there's a bunch of S-300/400 missiles under the Christmas tree! Imagery @planet, taken this morning. Historical imagery shows canisters and missiles appeared in the field on the left image not earlier than August 15. ImageImage
There's also another nearby site with S-400 AD systems, significant increase in numbers since Aug 7th (Imagery Aug 7/Aug 21). 45.688941, 34.414940 ImageImage
Read 4 tweets
Aug 24
Sometimes a lunch is more than just a meal and a drink. Happy Independence Day, Ukraine! Image
Peace is not only a John Lennon quote, guys, it's something you have to fight for. Image
Full statement. Cheers! ImageImage
Read 5 tweets
Aug 21
🧵 Russian tourists reveal S-400 air defense systems positioned near Yevpatoria. AD is active nearly every day in this area according to local authorities. Geolocation 45.180317, 33.232232
Satellite imagery by @planet shows that the AD appeared here from July 15th till July 22. Photos above made on July 27, photos in @COUPSURE's thread on July 31.
This geolocation and photos were quite easy to find/confirm cause those AD systems are not hiding at all and are positioned not far from the beach. Drivers in the cabins can be noticed.
Read 12 tweets
Aug 19
1/5 New satellite images by @planet, taken this morning, show what may be a new damage to Antonovsky bridge in Kherson after August 14th HIMARS strike. August 7th/August 19th images comparison. The strikes are damn precise and hit exactly the same part of the bridge every time.
2/5 I'm not 100% sure August 19th image shows new damage, but I lean to say it does. Also looks like some repair equipment is again visible on Augist 19th image (a crane?)
3/5 Here's the animation showing how this part of the bridge changed after Ukrainian strikes and Russian efforts to repair them, images on this video are taken on July 9, July 30, August 1, August 7, August 19th.
Read 5 tweets

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