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Mark Krutov Profile picture
Mark Krutov
@kromark
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Views of my own. RT = interesting. Read the whole threads before replying. Email krotovm@rferl.org for inquiries.
18 subscribers
Dec 12 • 18 tweets • 7 min read
🧵/ Link in the last post. Remember the recent WaPo piece about Russia expanding its secret biological lab complex near Moscow? With @pustota, we proved that a Russian defense minister personally inspected it. We also found renders, images of the construction and inside the lab. Image
Image The new biolabs are part of the 48th Central Scientific Research Institute of the Russian Ministry of Defense. First, we found this image of the new facility on the website of the construction company responsible for the finishing works. archive.is/3t3ppImage
Dec 2 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
🧵/ link in the last post. Together with @Mike_Eckel and help from @C4ADS, we found that a Chinese company, which recently acquired a US plant in California and whose shares trade on the Swiss stock exchange, has shipped electronics to sanctioned Russian firms linked to military. Image Not only were electronics produced by this company found in Russian guided aerial bombs in Ukraine, but some shipments were also made to the infamous FSB unit 34435, an employer of the 'poisoning squad' responsible for the 2020 poisoning of Russian dissident Alexey Navalny. Image
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Nov 26 • 6 tweets • 4 min read
1/2 Not only did the Russian MoD acknowledge for the first time that ATACMS hit their targets, but also published photos of the rockets, one taken near the 'Pantsir' installed at Khalino air base in July and visible in a @planet satellite image from Nov. 2nd. Image 2/2 More photos of the ATACMS missile parts from the Russian MoD, taken in Khalino (t.me/mod_russia/462…) and Lotarevka (t.me/mod_russia/462…), where the S-400 missile system was hit. Image
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Nov 21 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
1/2 Just a small bit of OSINT on Russia's new 'Oreshnik' MRBM, allegedly used to strike Dnipro (per Putin): I found the exactly the same part on the Russian govt procurement site. Docs from 2013 show it's also used for the S-30 'Bulava' SLBM. tenderguru.ru/tender/10388996Image 2/2 The 'ИРЦУ' marking is used by the Central Research Institute of Automation and Hydraulics (TsNIIAG) and can also be found in the procurement records of the Votkinsk Plant, which assembles the 'Topol-M,' 'Yars,' and other Russian strategic missiles. star-pro.ru/proverka-kontr…Image
Oct 16 • 17 tweets • 7 min read
🧵1/7 A quick thread: finding yet another 'Pantsir' in Moscow Oblast in 10 minutes with the help of OSINT. (The ad on the pole says, 'Will buy any car'😆) Image 2/7 Yesterday, I added a few more crowdsourced 'Pantsirs' to my map of post-2022 air defense systems installed in Moscow and Moscow Oblast after the first Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian capital, and I noticed a 'ring' pattern in their placement.
Sep 23 • 46 tweets • 15 min read
🧵/ link in the last post. With @Maja_Zivanovic & @MilosKatic, we spoke to a Serbian mercenary who fought for Russia in Ukraine from Nov '22 to June '23. He revealed poor training, tensions with Russian commanders, and shell companies behind recruiting Serbs for the war. Image Serbs fighting for Russia since 2014 (via 'Wagner' then) isn’t new, but we seem to be the first Western media journalists to interview one. Of course, we didn’t take his words (and photos he provided) at face value; we corroborated them with other sources, including OSINT.
Sep 6 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
🧶"They cut our money, that's a fact." 40+ pages of WhatsApp messages between U.S.-indicted Alexander Ionov and his FSB handlers depict RU agents as both funny and miserable, yet still malicious. For instance, it appears Ionov was instrumental in helping to ban @occrp in Russia. Those WhatsApp chats also suggest how Ionov and the FSB agents (who used iCloud to back up their WhatsApp data) were busted. Image
Sep 5 • 18 tweets • 5 min read
🧵/ link in the last post. Andrey Averyanov, ex-head of GRU sabotage unit 29155, visited Israel twice before the war in Ukraine, including Feb 10, 2022, when Israeli PM Naftali Bennett urged the EU not to renew the Iran nuclear deal. Averyanov then began frequent trips to Iran. Image A leaked Russian border database shows Averyanov, linked to Skripal's poisoning, Vrbetice explosions, and Khangoshvili's assassination, visited Israel for just one day on Feb 8 and 10, 2022, ruling out 'tourism' was a purpose.
Aug 31 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
📉1/2 Interesting case. 2 'Pantsirs' were installed near the Kubinka airfield in Moscow oblast in Aug. '23, prior to the 'Army-2023' forum. Not later than in April '24 one of them was removed, though the forum took place there that year too. HR satellite images by @planet.
2/2 You can find this and other Russian post-war air defense positions in Moscow and Moscow Oblast, including some on top of garbage piles and 'Flakturm' towers, on my dynamic map here: google.com/maps/d/u/0/edi…
Aug 27 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
1/4 🌉The Russian army constructed a 4th pontoon bridge across the Seym River in the Kursk oblast, near Zvannoye, 1.8 kilometers from the damaged main bridge (51.382030, 34.528200 @GeoConfirmed). It can be seen on @planet satellite image taken yesterday, on Aug. 26th Image 2/4 This @planet HR satellite image shows both the new pontoon bridge and the old stationary bridge, which was damaged by Ukraine earlier. Image
Aug 19 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
A high-resolution @planet satellite image taken on Aug. 17th shows the pontoon bridge across the Seym River, constructed by the Russians between Aug. 15 and Aug. 16, east of Glushkovo village in Kursk Oblast (51.35109, 34.67668), after Ukraine began targeting bridges in the area.
Image Yet another pontoon bridge across the Seym river build built by Russians east of Zavannoe (51.376050, 34.612800). Satellite image by @planet taken on August, 17th. Image
Aug 14 • 23 tweets • 8 min read
🧵/ Link in the last post. There are increasing reports in Russia about conscripts being sent to Kursk for reinforcement after the Russian army failed to push back Ukrainian forces there. Together with @pustota, we decided to take a deeper look into this issue. Image First of all, this is not the first case of using conscripts in combat during this war. The most infamous one dates back to June 2022. themoscowtimes.com/2022/06/07/rus…
Aug 9 • 10 tweets • 7 min read
🧵I created an interactive Google Map showing all 15 vehicles (14 trucks and 1 rescue 'Bukhanka') from the Russian military convoy destroyed by Ukraine last night near Rylsk, Kursk Oblast. Multiple dead bodies can be seen inside the trucks. google.com/maps/d/u/0/edi…

Image The Yandex.Mirrors dashcam snapshots collection from 2021 was used for geolocation, which I tried to make as precise as possible. However, I may have missed a few meters here and there – apologies in advance for any inaccuracies. yandex.ru/maps/-/CDcoa4JD
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Jul 27 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
🧵Today, the Ukrainian military intelligence, HUR, claimed a strike on the Russian National Helicopter Center Mil & Kamov in Tomilino, Moscow Oblast, on July 21. I found the initial source for the videos they published and geolocated one of them. See the next posts for details🔽
Image The geolocated video. Source: 'Overheard in Tomilino' VK group (), posted at 8AM on July 21. Geolocation: POV 55.657014, 37.921943. This pretty much confirms the fire in the heli center premises, also confirmed by many people who commented on that post. archive.is/oO8gH


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Jul 15 • 17 tweets • 5 min read
🧵1/7 New Pantsir-S1 on a tower has been recently installed just 3.7 kilometers from Vladimir Putin's residence on Valdai Lake, according to updated Google Earth imagery dated May 6th, 2024. 57.979219, 33.302010 Image 2/7 A bigger picture: Image
Jun 18 • 13 tweets • 6 min read
🧵Together with @Mike_Eckel and @pustota, we took a deep dive into the deep blue: the history of the Barneo polar camp, which dates back to 1993 and reflects many events that have shaped Russia since then, from becoming a hybrid FSB-mafia state to starting a war in Ukraine. 🔽 Image This is a long read, so I’ll provide descriptions of its chapters in this thread, each accompanied by anchor links to the relevant parts of the text.
Jun 3 • 10 tweets • 5 min read
1/9 Quick🧵about the possible Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with Western rocket systems after the U.S. authorized Kyiv on May 31st to do so in order to prevent Russian strikes and assaults on Kharkiv Oblast 🔽. 2/9 Monday, June 3. Photos of the aftermath of the alleged HIMARS strike on a Russian S-300/400. They can be geolocated () 18 km north of Belgorod, more than 50 km from the border. No GMLRS rocket debris is shown, though. Date taken is unknown. t.me/DniproOfficial…
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May 27 • 13 tweets • 6 min read
1/3 Looking for the previously unknown Russian air defense positions in the Moscow plains when hearing the news about the yet another Ukrainian drone being shot down? Take your chances with the nearest garbage pile, and you won’t miss 😊
Image 2/3 This is not the first air defense position constructed above a pile of trash since the start of Russia's full-scale war with Ukraine.
May 24 • 12 tweets • 6 min read
1/5 Finally, the aftermath of the Ukrainian UAV strike on the Kushchyovskaya air base in Krasnodar Oblast, as seen in a HR @planet image from May 23rd. 1 Su-27 is destroyed. 1 Su-34 is also heavily damaged. The Su-30 near the destroyed Su-27 might be damaged as well. 2/5 Destroyed Su-27: @planet stills (May 5th/May23).


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May 22 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
1/2 Meanwhile, the draft of the law proposing to unilaterally change Russia's maritime borders in the Baltic Sea disappeared from the Russian government website.
Image 2/2 There's still an archived copy of the draft description under the same URL. archive.is/c8MKH
May 16 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Aftermath of the 2 Ukrainian strikes on Belbek airfield over 2 consecutive nights, as seen in a HR satellite image by @planet from May 16. At least several MiG-31s appear to be destroyed + a fuel depot (according to Wikimapia). Another scorch mark is visible at 44.6857, 33.5590. Reference image in the video above is taken on May 1st, several planes changed their position since then, several are not seen on May 16 image. Still @planet May 16 HR image: Image