OSINT: "Brown Moses" & Bellingcat (merged thread)

[davidbfpo]

There are a number of recent posts to Bellingcat's recent work on the attempted murder of a GRU defector in Salisbury, UK. See Posts 75, 77 & 80 on that thread:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...erations/page4

[davidbfpo]

An exploration of Bellingcat in 'The Spectator' alas behind a paywall, which considers the allegations made it is a servant of the UK / US agencies. It ends with this:

The real secret of Bellingcat is that they have stumbled upon a disturbing truth: that it has become impossible to tell analogue lies in a digital world. In an age where almost all personal data is searchable and every event photographed, the most secret information is often hiding in plain sight. All you need to know is where to look for it — even if that means delving into the internet’s darkest corners.

Link:https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/10/...spy-agencies/?

[davidbfpo]

The opening part of a Bellingcat investigation into the private operator of UK and other nation's visa issuing being subverted by the Russians, hence the two Skirpal suspects having visas for year to enter the UK and other European nations. It starts with:

One of the unanswered questions lingering after Bellingcat’s unmasking of the identities of suspects in the botched-up poisoning of Sergey and Yulia Skripal, is how two (or, likely, more) undercover GRU officers were able to obtain visas to travel to the UK. Securing a visa to the UK – as to most of EU destinations – is not a trivial procedure. A single-entry visitor visa is relatively straightforward to procure – it requires either an invitation from a UK resident or business, or a pre-arranged tourist trip.

Link:https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-a...l-visa-system/