Searching the Earth: Essential geolocation tools for verification
By Eliot Higgins from Bellingcat, for The First Draft
As verification and open source investigation techniques and methodologies have developed over the last few years,...
Russia’s Stalinist Diplospeak
A Russian linguist closely examines how the Russian Foreign Ministry’s communication has resurrected the creepy old Soviet style.
Russian is a tough language to learn...
Chechen’s Comments Manipulated to Prove Murder of Donbas Civilians
By taking a comment entirely out of context, separatist and Russian media reported on July 24 that pro-Kyiv Chechens fighting in eastern Ukraine allegedly...
Ekho Moskvy Faces Loss of Economic Independence
Ekho Moskvy has been turned down for a request to its shareholders for a loan of 100 million rubles for six months, RBC.ru reported,...
Fake: Saakashvili’s Adviser Has Israeli Citizenship
Separatist sites have distorted comments made by Mariya Gaidar, the newly appointed Deputy Governor of Odesa Oblast, about her application for Israeli citizenship. The...
Fake: American Missiles Found in Luhansk
On July 22, Russian and separatist media falsely reported that American surface-to-air missiles had been found in a Luhansk airport storehouse. News agencies cited...
Fake: OSCE Claims Donetsk Shelled by Ukrainian Army
On July 21, Russian and Ukrainian media wrongly reported that the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission had concluded that Donetsk’s center had been shelled on...
Russia Says Twitter Doesn’t Need to Comply With Its New Data-Localization Law
State officials have announced that Twitter can ignore a new law coming into force on September 1 that will require online services to store...
Russia’s Internet Censor Threatens New YouTube Block
Roscomnadzor, the Russian government's media and Internet watchdog, has issued an official warning to video hosting website YouTube about adding the site to Russia's...
Fake: Donetsk Doctors Refuse to Treat Wounded Ukrainian Soldier
On July 6, the Ukrainian STB television channel falsely reported on the medical mistreatment of Ukrainian soldier Roman Kapatsiy, who had been recently released...