A key figure in the Kinahan cartel, one of the world's largest organised crime groups, has a hobby. Ian Thomas Dixon's interest in padel left behind a digital trail that helped uncover the first public footage of him in almost a decade. youtube.com/shorts/6tN6d...

When digital media is leaked or manipulated, it can be difficult to trace it back to its source. Today we're exploring how forensic watermarking is being developed to improve traceability and accountability in leaked intimate imagery. Join us live at 5pm CEST / 11am EDT: discord.gg/a9TVpY8R6?ev...

Why do we publish every step and tool we use in our investigations? Because anyone should be able to verify our work. Consider supporting this work by becoming a member: www.bellingcat.com/donate/?utm_...

Extreme wildfire activity worldwide has more than doubled in the past 21 years. What tools can we use to track wildfires and report on the damage they leave behind? Find out in our latest guide: www.bellingcat.com/resources/ho...

Satellite Imagery Shows Scale of Venezuela Earthquake Damage Bellingcat has received satellite imagery from Planet Labs PBC that shows one the worst affected areas in the country, including a large number of collapsed buildings and apartment blocks in La Guaira. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/06...

Bellingcat has received satellite imagery from Planet Labs PBC that shows one the areas worst affected by the recent earthquakes in Venezuela www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/06...

We're launching a funding drive on Bellingcat today. It's a tough funding environment at the moment with global funder cuts & the fear of Trump scaring off donors, so support us here www.bellingcat.com/donate/?utm_... A short video about what your donations will fund www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vzb...

For over a decade we've tracked missiles, exposed poisoners, and followed the evidence. No paywall. No anonymous sources. No government funding. Just public-interest journalism. Today we launch Bellingcat Membership to maintain our independence. Support our work: www.bellingcat.com/donate/?utm_...

What role can technology play in tackling leaked intimate imagery? Join our live podcast on Thursday with Madelaine Thomas of @imageangel.bsky.social for a talk on building protective tech responsibly and the practical challenges of dealing with image-based abuse. discord.gg/bellingcat?e...

A promotional image for a padel club in Dubai shows a talented player, mid-swing and eyes locked on the ball. He’s also a key figure in the Kinahan cartel, the Irish organised crime group involved in drug trafficking, money laundering and arms smuggling. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/06...

A promotional image for a padel club in Dubai shows a talented player, mid-swing and eyes locked on the ball. He’s also a key figure in the Kinahan cartel, the Irish organised crime group involved in drug trafficking, money laundering and arms smuggling. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/06...

Monitoring planes, trains or automobiles in an investigation? Our Bellingcat Toolkit includes a range of resources for transport tracking, geolocation, and movement analysis: bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/cate... Here are a few of the tools we use and how you can get involved 🧵

Bellingcat developed a new machine learning model to rank Telegram social media posts on their likelihood of containing incidents of civilian harm. Read our latest guide: www.bellingcat.com/resources/20...

An emerging class of synthetic opioids, nitazenes, is now coming into focus in the US. These drugs can be 40 times more potent than fentanyl and are difficult to track. The investigative group @bellingcat.com has found nitazenes spreading across the US and uncovered links to Chinese suppliers.

Bellingcat developed a new machine learning model to rank Telegram social media posts on their likelihood of containing incidents of civilian harm. Read our latest guide: www.bellingcat.com/resources/20...

Analysing an image or video for an investigation? Your work can be enhanced with help from open source tools which we have a collection of in our Bellingcat Toolkit. bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/cate... Here are a few of the tools we use and how you can get involved 🧵

The region around Crimea is known for GNSS interference, meaning that its publicly reported Automated Identification System (AIS) position is unreliable. Find out how Bellingcat still managed to track a Russian-flagged vessel exporting grain from occupied Ukraine. www.youtube.com/shorts/GUyI0...

Want to investigate environmental harms but not sure what tools are out there that might help your work? You can find some useful tools reviewed in our Bellingcat Toolkit. bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/cate... Here are a few of the tools we use and how you can get involved 🧵

Looking to use open sources to investigate a company? 🔎 The Bellingcat Toolkit has a section dedicated to companies, finance, sanctions, political funding, blockchain analysis, and more: bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/cate... Here are a few of the tools we use and how you can get involved 🧵

A drug up to 40 times more potent than fentanyl and 500 times stronger than heroin is increasingly being detected in the US. Bellingcat produced the most detailed account yet of how nitazenes are infiltrating US borders and destroying lives. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/06...

Investigating a specific network on social media? You can find some useful tools reviewed in our Bellingcat Toolkit. bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/cate... Here are a few of the tools we use and how you can get involved 🧵

🗓️ 16 June, 16:00-18:00. Investigation Walkthrough with Dabanga & Bellingcat Amgad Abdelgadir (Dabanga) & @sebkilli.bsky.social @bellingcat.com present their recent story concerning the online trend of TikTok videos of child soldiers in Sudan's civil war ⬇️

This week we hosted the @cnn.com team behind the Motherless investigation on Stage Talks. We spoke about reporting where people believe anonymity gives them power, and the risks and realities of investigating those spaces. Search 'Stage Talks with Bellingcat': rss.com/podcasts/bel...

Killing Anna, made with Keo Films and Bellingcat Productions, screens at the Sheffield Doc Fest this weekend in the UK. The film tells the story of how an online researcher tracked and exposed those responsible for a massacre in Syria. Read more here: www.sheffdocfest.com/film/killing...

An investigation by Bellingcat has identified yet another Russian-flagged bulk carrier, exporting grain from occupied Crimea to Libya. This adds Libya to the list of countries willing to accept what the Ukrainian government describes as “stolen” grain. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/06...

Mark your calendars! This talk is taking place later today in the Bellingcat Discord Server. Join us live to ask your questions. discord.gg/BFY8pMX3?eve...

Watch Bellingcat's @giancarlofiorella.bsky.social on CTV News explaining the disinformation campaign targeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Fake videos appearing to be from media organisations, including Bellingcat, have been shared across social media. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGDq...

We're updating our workshops with the latest open-source research techniques, and we'd love your input. What content would be most valuable to you? Complete our short survey and you'll be entered into a draw to win a place on a Bellingcat webinar: form.typeform.com/to/iviZsgLS

June 8 Sentinel-2 imagery over southern Lebanon shows a large amount of destruction in two villages near Beaufort Castle, an area the IDF has been active in since earlier this month. Similar to many of the villages further south, much of Yohmor and Arnoun appear to have been destroyed by the IDF.

US special forces seized an oil tanker that our joint @bellingcat.com @thetimes.com project linked to the Kinahans. In March we covered how we found a bill of sale listing former UFC fighter Mounir Lazzez, a friend of Daniel Kinahan, as the director of a company that purchased the ship in 2023.

How do journalists investigate communities designed to stay hidden? On Thursday we'll be joined by the @cnn.com team who exposed the Motherless "sleep" community. Together we'll go behind the headlines to explore the risks of reporting in private online spaces. Join live: discord.gg/bellingcat?e...

Viory offers journalists training in fact-checking and #OSINT for verification. OSINT is indeed very useful. Here's how I used it to prove that Viory is not the independent organisation it claims to be.

NEW: @elisethomas.bsky.social reveals multiple links between Viory, a video news agency supplying national press agencies across Africa, Asia and the Middle East and Ruptly news agency - a branch of sanctioned Russian propaganda outlet Russia Today. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/06...

Russian bots have turned him into a deepfake. He avoids travelling to the US over fears he could be on a watchlist. In an interview with Follow the Money, @bellingcat.com founder @eliothiggins.bsky.social explains why, after years of high-stakes investigations, “the paranoia gets to you”.

Amgad Abdelgadir and myself will be presenting our Bellingcat investigation which revealed a disturbing trend of Sudanese child soldiers going viral on TikTok. The event will be hosted at Kings College London on 16 June. Free tickets available here: www.tickettailor.com/events/kings...

Our researcher @koltai.bsky.social spoke with PBS about the reasons behind the rise in AI nudification apps

What can munition remnants, damage patterns, or craters at the site of a strike reveal? Bellingcat researcher @easybakeovensz.bsky.social created five challenges to introduce you to techniques that open source researchers use to analyse the aftermath of a strike. Challenge.bellingcat.com

A new investigation by Bellingcat has identified 115 villages in Rakhine State as partially or completely destroyed. Some of the villages that appear damaged or destroyed on satellite imagery are also missing on the latest maps. www.youtube.com/shorts/BAB73...

Its your last chance to answer our survey. Help shape the future of open source investigation. We’re seeking input from our community, and your anonymous feedback is vital. bellingcat.questionpro.eu/a/TakeSurvey...

In one hour we'll be talking with @poojachaudhuri.bsky.social about her investigation into 115 villages in Rakhine State partially or completely destroyed since Myanmar’s 2021 military coup. Read the investigation: www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/05... Join us live: discord.gg/EjgxVKgv?eve...

Last night our @frontlinepbs.bsky.social documentary collaboration with @pbs.org , @washingtonpost.com and @evidentmedia.org covering Iran's nuclear programme won an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Coverage: Long Form.

A new investigation by Bellingcat has identified 115 villages in Rakhine State as partially or completely destroyed since the February 2021 military coup that overthrew Myanmar’s democratically elected government. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/05...

Footage analysed by Bellingcat and Jeune Afrique shows unexploded Russian-made cluster munition bomblets found in northern Mali - Despite Mali being a state party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) which prohibits their use. www.bellingcat.com/news/africa/...

What would make Bellingcat an organisation you’d like to support? We want to hear from you. Help us build the Bellingcat of tomorrow by filling out this quick survey: bellingcat.questionpro.eu/t/AB3vDHmZB3...

Where reporting carries major safety risks, how can open-source analysis reveal what’s happening on the ground? In our next Stage Talk, Bellingcat's @poojachaudhuri.bsky.social shares how she monitors and verifies claims of violence in Myanmar. Join us live on Thursday: discord.gg/EjgxVKgv?eve...

Hear how we track transnational far-right networks... This panel recorded at re:publica is now available online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywcp...

Since the beginning of 2026, at least four landslides are reported to have killed hundreds of people at the Rubaya mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a major global source of coltan. Coltan is widely used in smartphones, laptops and e-vehicles. www.youtube.com/shorts/RZ_PH...

How do far-right movements coordinate across borders? At re:publica this week, researchers from Bellingcat and the Center für Monitoring, Analyse und Strategie will unpack the narratives and platform dynamics shaping the transnational far-right. Join live in Berlin: re-publica.com/en/node/10278

Bellingcat’s strength is our collective. We’re conducting a quick 5-minute survey to see how we can improve the connection with you, our audience, and provide the resources you need for your own research. Contribute to our anonymous review here: bellingcat.questionpro.eu/t/AB3vDHmZB3...

Aircraft tracking has become a powerful tool for journalism. In our Stage Talks podcast, @gillianbrockell.com demonstrates how flight data and open tools can be used to trace government flights, identify ICE aircraft, and verify aviation activity. Listen: rss.com/podcasts/bellingcatstagetalk/2829188