The War You’re Not Allowed to See: How the UAE Rewrites the Story of Iranian Strikes
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/04/02/war-uae-iran-infuencer-dubai-conflict-drone-successful-strike-intercept-fire/

Bellingcat has identified several high-profile incidents where authorities in the United Arab Emirates have downplayed damage, mischaracterised interceptions and in some instances not acknowledged successful Iranian drone strikes on the country. A review of official statements shows that the public account does not always align with what can be observed through open sources. This comes […]
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When Satellite Imagery Goes Dark: New Tool Shows Damage in Iran and the Gulf
https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2026/04/07/tool-damage-assessment-destruction-sentinel-satellite-imagery-iran-us-gulf/

Access to open source visuals of the current Iran conflict, which has spread to many parts of the Middle East, continues to be sporadic. Videos and photos from within Iran trickle out on social media as the Iranian internet blackout hinders the flow of digital communication.  In past conflicts, satellite imagery has provided a vital […]
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‘Snoopy’, ‘Adolf’ and ‘Password’: The Hungarian Government Passwords Exposed Online
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/04/09/the-hungarian-government-passwords-exposed-online/

Almost 800 Hungarian government email addresses and associated passwords are circulating online, revealing basic vulnerabilities in the security protocols of ministries involved in classified and sensitive work. A Bellingcat analysis of breach data shows that 12 out of the government’s 13 ministries have been affected, which in some cases have exposed the confidential information of […]
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Painkiller Pipeline: 300 Million Tapentadol Pills Sent from India to West Africa
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/04/17/painkiller-pipeline-300-million-tapentadol-pills-sent-from-india-to-west-africa/

This article is the result of a collaboration with Indian media outlet Newslaundry. You can find Newslaundry’s editorially independent coverage here. Indian companies have shipped more than 320 million synthetic opioid pills to West Africa – where they have not been approved by regulators – over the past three years, a Bellingcat investigation has found. […]
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Mining China’s ‘Little Red Book’ for Open Source Gold
https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2026/04/20/xiaohongshu-rednote-open-source-guide/

The challenges of conducting open-source research in China are well-documented. Consistently named one of the most digitally oppressive countries in the world, China blocks some of the world’s largest social media platforms, such as Facebook, Google, and YouTube. Those that are still accessible are mostly Chinese-owned, strictly regulated and monitored in real time by AI […]
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“Make Iran Ungovernable” – Tracking Efforts To Destroy Iran’s Police Infrastructure
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/04/24/make-iran-ungovernable-tracking-efforts-to-destroy-irans-police-infrastructure/

Bellingcat has identified at least 80 police stations or infrastructure related to law enforcement agencies and the Basij paramilitary group that has been damaged or destroyed in the first three weeks of the United States and Israel’s war against Iran. Experts told Bellingcat that both countries aim to degrade the Iranian regime’s “repressive capacity”. Combined, […]
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Unearthing a Colombian Politician’s Connections to Neo-Nazi Active Club Group
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/05/11/active-club-colombia-politics/

This investigation is a collaboration between Bellingcat and Colombian media outlet Cerosetenta. You can read Cerosetenta’s piece in Spanish here. A video posted on Feb. 26 shows several men painting over graffiti in Restrepo, a neighbourhood in Bogota, Colombia, and replacing them with images of their own: a logo used by Colombian political candidate and […]
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Congo’s Coltan Belt: Verifying Deadly Landslides At Mines Under M23 Control
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/africa/2026/05/12/congos-coltan-belt-verifying-deadly-landslides-at-mines-under-m23-control/

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. With the mines currently under the control of the Rwandan-backed group M23, […]
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Satellite Imagery Shows Ongoing Demolitions Across Southern Lebanon
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/05/14/satellite-imagery-shows-ongoing-demolitions-across-southern-lebanon/

The fragile ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hezbollah last month is holding.  But satellite imagery shows that at least 46 of 54 towns and villages within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “Yellow Line” in southern Lebanon have been heavily damaged or, in some cases, entirely flattened.  Much of the destruction and demolition has taken place […]
The post Satellite Imagery Shows Ongoing Demolitions Across Southern Lebanon (https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/05/14/satellite-imagery-shows-ongoing-demolitions-across-southern-lebanon/) appeared first on bellingcat (https://www.bellingcat.com/).

Banned Russian Submunitions Found After Mali’s Military Announces Airstrikes
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/africa/2026/05/26/banned-russian-submunitions-found-after-malis-military-announces-airstrikes/

This investigation is a collaboration between Bellingcat and Jeune Afrique. You can read Jeune Afrique’s article in French here. Unexploded Russian-made cluster munition bomblets, as well as damage consistent with bomblet impacts, have been found in a village in northern Mali – despite the West African country being a state party to the Convention on […]
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The ‘Lost’ Villages of Myanmar’s Rakhine
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/05/27/the-lost-villages-of-myanmars-rakhine/

A “river of blood” was how one survivor described the scene in western Myanmar. “I saw shooting. I saw mass killing.” Another told the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHRC) how 20 relatives, including three children, had been killed in the 2024 attack on Htan Shauk Khan village. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said earlier […]
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Tracing Digital Links Between Viory and Ruptly
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/06/04/viory-ruptly-rt-russia-uae-propaganda-video-news/

“In the age of misinformation, the line between fact and fiction is blurrier than ever.” “For those of us working in video news, verification isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a necessity. It is how we protect the stories we help shape and how we earn and maintain trust in an increasingly chaotic information ecosystem,” Abu Dhabi-registered […]
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Heading Off: New Technique Helps Track Grain Smuggling Expansion to Libya
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/06/12/shadow-fleet-russian-grain-stolen-ukraine-libya-ais-technique-grumant/

On February 15, 2026, the bulk carrier, Grumant (IMO: 9385879) was pictured at the occupied Ukrainian Port of Feodosia on the Crimean peninsula. Satellite imagery suggests it had already been there for several days.  It appeared to stock up on grain before departing on a two-month-long journey eventually docking at the Port of Benghazi in […]
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Super-Potent Synthetic Opioids Spread Across US Amid Fentanyl Crackdown
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/06/18/super-potent-synthetic-opioids-spread-across-us-amid-fentanyl-crackdown/

This article was co-published with Signal Ohio and STAT. In high school, Ashley Delgado dreamed of becoming a doctor and one day buying her father a Rolls-Royce. “She wanted to heal people,” said her father, James Taylor. She had a high GPA, Taylor added, and did especially well in science and Latin. In her mid-20s, […]
The post Super-Potent Synthetic Opioids Spread Across US Amid Fentanyl Crackdown (https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/06/18/super-potent-synthetic-opioids-spread-across-us-amid-fentanyl-crackdown/) appeared first on bellingcat (https://www.bellingcat.com/).

How to Use AI to Help Find Civilian Harm
https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2026/06/25/how-to-use-ai-to-help-find-civilian-harm-conflict-report-monitor-war-machine-learning-telegram/

Between February 2022 and September 2025, Bellingcat staff and volunteers collected, geolocated, and shared more than 2,500 incidents of civilian harm following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.  As part of this effort, Bellingcat tested a new machine learning model intended to rank Telegram social media posts on their likelihood of containing incidents of civilian harm.  […]
The post How to Use AI to Help Find Civilian Harm (https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2026/06/25/how-to-use-ai-to-help-find-civilian-harm-conflict-report-monitor-war-machine-learning-telegram/) appeared first on bellingcat (https://www.bellingcat.com/).

Poster Boy: Sanctioned Kinahan Cartel Lieutenant Found Playing Padel in Dubai
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/06/27/poster-boy-sanctioned-kinahan-cartel-lieutenant-found-playing-padel-in-dubai/

This article is the result of a collaboration with The Sunday Times. You can find their corresponding piece here. Every Friday evening, the brochure says, players can compete to win cash prizes in one of the world’s fastest-growing racquet sports. The padel club in Dubai’s west is the picture of modern wellness culture: climate-controlled courts, […]
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Satellite Imagery Shows Scale of Venezuela Earthquake Damage
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/06/29/satellite-imagery-shows-scale-of-venezuela-earthquake-damage/

At least 1,719 people are reported to have died after two devastating earthquakes struck northwestern Venezuela last week. The final casualty count is expected to rise significantly. Some media outlets report resident’s growing frustration with the Venezuelan government and its recovery efforts. Sky News on June 29 reported that the United Nations Coordinator for Humanitarian […]
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Burning Forests: Tools for Tracking and Reporting Wildfire Damage
https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/how-tos/2026/06/30/burning-forests-tools-for-tracking-and-reporting-wildfire-damage/

If you’ve seen reports of a wildfire in your region and you’re looking for open source data, NASA’s fire-tracking tool is often the first place to start. It provides a heat signature and an approximate location. But detection is only the first step in understanding what’s happened. In this guide, we explore ways to analyse […]
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Between Graves and Uncertainty: The Management of the Dead After Venezuela’s Earthquake
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/07/06/between-graves-and-uncertainty-the-management-of-the-dead-after-venezuelas-earthquake/

Bellingcat has geolocated footage circulating on social media that appears to show coffins placed in newly dug trenches following the recent deadly earthquakes in Venezuela. The site identified extends over two hectares beside an existing cemetery in La Esperanza, a town near La Guaira on the country’s northern coast. It was visited by a representative of […]
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Identifying the Crypto Entrepreneur Linked to Popular Forum Trading in ‘Leaked’ Nudes of Women
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/07/16/leakedbb-crypto-entrepreneur/

This investigation is a collaboration between Bellingcat and New Zealand news site The Press. You can read The Press’ piece here.  Content warning: This article discusses non-consensual sexually explicit content and child sexual abuse material. In 2024, a former track and field coach in Boston, Massachusetts, was sentenced to five years in jail for attempting […]
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