Bellingcat Case Study

On November 14, 2018, Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) accused the US of providing air cover to an IS convoy which allegedly left the Syrian town of Al-Bukamal on November 9. As proof, the MoD's social media account posted what they claimed were Russian drone photos of the convoy heading towards the Syrian-Iraqi border.

Photos published by MoD were verified by investigation teams of Bellingcat and Conflict Intelligence Team. 1 photo out of 5 was taken from a mobile game "AC-130 Gunship Simulator: Special Ops Squadron".

According to Conflict Intelligence Team, remaining 4 photos  were actually taken from videos released by the Iraqi Ministry of Defence in June 2016, showing the Iraqi Air Force bombing IS near Fallujah.

Photo: Conflict Intelligence Team

"Irrefutable evidence" of MoD was later deleted from their social pages.