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Christiaan Triebert Profile picture
Christiaan Triebert
@trbrtc
Visual Investigations at @nytimes. Previously with @Bellingcat, @Airwars. DMs open.
20 subscribers
Mar 9 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
New footage reveals an apparent U.S. or Israeli strike near a boys' school in Abyek, west of Tehran, on Feb. 28. Satellite imagery suggests a comms tower was the intended target, but flying debris killed a child on the playground. Story w/ @Parinlalala nytimes.com/2026/03/09/wor… The footage originates from multiple security cameras. It shows an ordinary morning; boys playing on the playground. It's just hours after the first joint U.S.-Israeli strikes, so school are in session. Then, an explosion is seen at the top of the screen.
Mar 3 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
What you're looking at is not a sunrise — it's the Russian LNG tanker ARCTIC METAGAZ (IMO 9243148) struck by a massive explosion in the Mediterranean this morning. Photographed by crew aboard a merchant vessel, via Vanguard Tech. Image
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Image Photos were taken ~04:00 local (03:00 UTC), looking towards Libya. ARCTIC METAGAZ had been running dark (AIS off, see @MarineTraffic screenshot) but had traveled southeast of Malta before the explosion (150NM per Maltese media, h/t @malte_humpert @sanjanamv @DefMon3). Image
Feb 28 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
We obtained the first known satellite image of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's compound in Tehran. There are several destroyed buildings. While the current whereabouts of Iran's supreme leader are unknown, the compound is generally used as his official residence. 🛰️📸: @Airbus Image *first publicly released satellite image

Either way, it goes to show that triangulating the lines of sight from four geolocated videos lead precisely to a main strike location in Tehran.
Feb 28 • 55 tweets • 24 min read
Israel has launched a daylight attack on Tehran, just now. Multiple explosions have been reported in Iran's capital. It isn't clear yet what was targeted, so starting a thread with geolocations. This photo, showing thick smoke plumes, was taken from Hasan Abad Square (میدان حسن‌آباد), looking northwest. Reference photo attached (). @GeoConfirmed: 35.686144, 51.410156. google.com/maps/@35.68614…Image
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Jan 21 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
The aftermath of the Jan. 8 fire in the historic bazaar of Rasht, northern Iran, is visible in satellite imagery. The image is accessible via @Soar, a relatively new free platform aggregating satellite data from multiple sources, including @CopernicusEU. The fire broke out amid nationwide anti-government protests, and Rasht's bazaar was a focal point of unrest, including clashes and strikes by merchants. Iranian authorities blame protesters for setting the fire, eyewitnesses dispute that. factnameh.com/fa/fact-checks…
Jan 9 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
The U.S. in is in the process of seizing OLINA in the Caribbean near Trinidad, per @Reuters. It's flying a false flag of Timor Leste. It's loaded with oil cargo from Venezuela, per @Kpler and @TankerTrackers. And last known location is 12.16769, -62.6113, per @oballinger. Image The tanker was hit by U.S. sanctions last year in re: Russia’s war in Ukraine. At the time, it was named MINERVA M, but it can still be identified by its IMO number, 9282479, which appears in related references. OFAC: ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions… Reuters: reuters.com/business/energ… Image
Jan 8 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
NEW: The United States is pursuing several oil tankers across the Atlantic after a mass departure from Venezuelan waters this weekend. Most of the ships are carrying oil; one flies the Russian flag.

w/ @riley_mellen @EricSchmittNYT ht/ @oballinger nytimes.com/2026/01/08/wor… The ships now crossing the Atlantic are part of a larger group of 16 sanctioned tankers we reported on a few days ago, which departed Venezuelan waters en masse in defiance of the U.S.’s partial naval blockade.
Jan 7 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
We just found out that, in addition to MARINERA and HYPERION, three other tankers recently in Venezuelan waters — and previously hit by U.S. sanctions for shipping Iranian/Russian oil —are now officially flying the Russian flag. More: nytimes.com/live/2026/01/0…Image 1 - VERONICA (9256860), now renamed to GALILEO, with homeport Taganrog. The vessel was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2022 following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Empty of oil cargo per @Kpler and @TankerTrackers. This vessel is one of 16 mentioned here.
Jan 5 • 14 tweets • 5 min read
BREAKING: Multiple oil tankers hit by U.S. sanctions appear to be making a coordinated attempt to break the U.S. naval blockade on Venezuela’s energy exports by departing all at once. w/ @AKurmanaev nyti.ms/4sreZEs Rubio said the blockade is one of the largest “quarantines” in modern history. But reporting by @AKurmanaev inside Venezuela, along with analysis from @TankerTrackers and myself, shows at least 16 tankers appear to be defying Trump’s “complete blockade.”
Dec 22, 2025 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
A Syrian expat was dining at Sixty, a restaurant at the top of a Moscow skyscraper, when waiters asked him not to take any photos. The diner looked around to see who the VIP was. It was Bashar al-Assad. Our story on the family’s life in exile: nyti.ms/45oxhML The deposed president and his family lives are posh. He went from a suite at the Four Seasons (up to $13K/week) to a penthouse in Federation Tower, and finally to a villa in Rublyovka — a secluded suburb popular with the Russian elite.
Oct 31, 2025 • 9 tweets • 5 min read
Satellite images of El Fasher, Sudan, taken today, Oct. 30, by @vantortech, show the aftermath of the RSF brutal takeover of the city this weekend. This is around the airport. Coordinates: 13.628, 25.329 Image
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Image Before and after of a road northwest of El Fasher, including numerous burned vehicles. Coordinates: 13.713, 25.278. Via @vantortech. Image
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Oct 16, 2025 • 38 tweets • 14 min read
When Bashar al-Assad’s regime collapsed in Syria, many of the officials who enabled and enforced his brutal regime disappeared. Our reporting uncovers who they are, what they did and where they fled. nyti.ms/3J1W5Cs The story above is the first installment of our ongoing reporting project on Assad's key enforcers — those who oversaw torture, directed massacres, and ordered chemical attacks. Just a few of the hooros of the civil war that left half a million people dead.
May 7, 2025 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Thread with @Maxar satellite imagery showing the aftermath of two locations in Pakistan struck by India overnight. The first location is the Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah compound on the outskirts of Bahawalpur. Satellite images courtesy of @Maxar. Image
Jan 11, 2025 • 9 tweets • 5 min read
Striking new satellite image from @Maxar of Altadena, heavily affected by the Los Angeles wildfires. The first image is natural color, the second show healthy vegetation in red and burned areas black/grey. Image
Image This image gives a closer view of Altadena, showing the extensively damage that occured over the past two days. Via @Maxar. Image
Jan 9, 2025 • 13 tweets • 6 min read
Thread with satellite imagery of the California wildfires. Smoke and clouds largely obscured the northwestern sections of the LA suburbs (Palisades, Malibu), but shortwave infrared (SWIR) sensor helps penetrate that and extensive damage and hundreds of active fires can be seen. Location: 34.045, -118.540. 🛰️📸: @Maxar Image
Dec 17, 2024 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
New @Maxar satellite imagery from the past 48 hours shows the Russian military vehicles and equipment continue to be withdrawn from Khmeimim Air Base, and likely arrived at the Tartus naval base. Thread 🧵 This image from December 15 shows military trucks, armored personnel carriers (APC) and personnel assembled on the tarmac at Khmeimim Air Base. An Il-76 transport aircraft is parked nearby. 🛰️📸: @Maxar Image
Dec 12, 2024 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
This satellite image from today, via @Maxar, shows three key vessels in Iran's strategy of converting commercial ships into military platforms ancored near Bandar Abbas:

SHAHID BAGHERI (new drone ship, probable net-covered drone on deck)
SHAHID MAHDAVI
SHAHID ROUDAKI Image This is a closer crop of the SHAHID BAGHERI, the newest of the three. Originally a commercial container ship, the vessel was converted into a military drone carrier and is now undergoing its first sea trials after departing the ISOICO shipyard in late November, per @Maxar. Image
Dec 10, 2024 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
New high-resolution satellite imagery from @Maxar of the key Russian location in Syria: the Tartus naval base and the Khmeimim airbase near Latakia. 🧵 Nearly all Russian naval assets have left their usual positions at the Tartus port base, as @riley_mellen and I reported for @nytimes yesterday. nytimes.com/live/2024/12/0…Image
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Nov 9, 2024 • 9 tweets • 6 min read
Young Dutch journalist @OmeBender filmed Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam stealing steel pipes, putting on masks, and chasing someone. A metal pipe appears to be thrown at a police vehicle. The footage also shows an Israeli fan warning him to stop filming. The incident shown in the clip above of the Maccabi fans chasing someone is the same one as seen in this video. This happened after the match, around midnight, in front of Centraal Station.
Nov 1, 2024 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Since it didn't make it into this story, threading some geolocations of airstrikes near Tinzaouaten by Turkish-made drones. These strikes could be conducted by Mali and/or Burkina Faso. Overview map. Pink line is Wagner's route toward Tinzouaten, pink pins are location of first battle, green line is earth berms around the gold mines, and yellow pins are the drone strikes. Image
Nov 1, 2024 • 35 tweets • 12 min read
In July, Wagner suffered its biggest defeat in Africa. Our visual investigation, using satellite imagery, battlefield footage and firsthand accounts, shows a moment-by-moment breakdown of what happened — and the fallout with families in Russia. nyti.ms/3Yx2Orx Please read the full article for our main findings. In this thread, I’ll share extra details that didn’t make the story — focusing on geolocations, messages from family members and some insight on what’s going on with Wagner after the mutiny and Prigozhin’s death.