InformNapalm

InformNapalm
OwnerNGO
Created byRoman Burko, Irakli Komaxidze[1]
URLInformNapalm.org
CommercialNo
LaunchedMarch 29, 2014; 10 years ago (2014-03-29)[2]
Current statusOnline
Content license
Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0)[1]
InformNapalm in Wikimedia Commons

InformNapalm is a volunteer[3][4][5][6] initiative to inform Ukrainian citizens and the foreign public about the Russo-Ukrainian War and the activities of the Russian special services as well as the militants of DPR, LPR, and Novorossiya. The team members are engaged in a wide range of other volunteer activities. Authors publish materials in 30 languages, including Japanese and Chinese.

History

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The Informnapalm.org website was created on 29 March 2014 after the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. During the existence of the project, volunteers conducted two profound investigations of the shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and gathered evidence of the presence of Russian troops in Ukrainian territory.[7]

TOP-10 Military Gadgets Involved in the Russian Aggression Against Ukraine. InformNapalm Infographics

The main activities of the project are collecting and analysing OSINT-information, found in open sources, including social networks. InformNapalm's investigation of 53rd Artillery Brigade commander colonel Sergei Muchkayev, suspected of killing the MH17 passengers, was used in the report of the Bellingcat research team.[8]

After the Russian intervention in Syria, InformNapalm began publishing personal data of Russian pilots who bombarded Syrian cities, and together with the media project "Visuals" created infographics containing personal data of crew members.[9][10] These publications have caused negative reactions in Russia, in particular, the Russian President's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, has said that in response to the actions of the project "Russian special services will take all necessary measures".[11] In response, the authors of the site said that "every violation the ceasefire in the Donbas by the joint Russian-separatist forces will cause the publication of another OSINT-investigation with names, photos, tactical and registration numbers and other details and facts related to Russian pilots crimes during a military operation in Syria".[12][13] TV channel Al Arabiya compared this InformNapalm project activity with WikiLeaks publications.[14]

By the end of 2016, the community had 407 investigative publications, 1197 translations and over 3920 reposts in the media.[15]

In March 2017, Ukraine Crisis Media Center hosted a presentation of the book "Donbas on Fire".[16] The book includes evidence of Russian aggression found and systematized by InformNapalm volunteers.[17]

In April 2018, InformNapalm published an interactive database of Russian aggression.[18] The Russian Aggression database is the result of four years of volunteer work. More than 1700 InformNapalm OSINT investigations are systematized and divided into two groups: Russian weapons found in Donbas; Russian army units that participated in the aggression against Ukraine, Georgia, and Syria.[19] The database is searchable by military unit number and unit name. Images of chevrons of military units or military equipment are clickable and lead to a list of investigations.[20][21]

Surkov leaks

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Main article: Surkov leaks

On 23 October 2016, Ukrainian hacker group CyberHunta published correspondence that it alleged was from the office email account of Vladislav Surkov, a political adviser to Vladimir Putin.[22] Volunteers from InformNapalm requested additional evidence from an alliance of hacker groups that includes CyberHunta, RUH8 [uk], FalconsFlame, and TRINITY. They secured the release of a 1 GB Microsoft Outlook data file. InformNapalm reported that the hackers also were in possession of documents from 2015 and 2016 that were being analysed by intelligence agencies and were not released due to their operational value.[23]

The document leak included 2,337 emails from Surkov's inbox.[24] The emails illustrate Russian plans to politically destabilize Ukraine and the coordination of affairs with major opposition leaders in separatist Eastern Ukraine.[25] The release included a document sent to Surkov by Denis Pushilin, former Chairman of the People's Council of the Donetsk People's Republic, listing casualties that occurred during 2014.[24] It also included a 22-page outline of "a plan to support nationalist and separatist politicians and to encourage early parliamentary elections in Ukraine, all with the aim of undermining the government in Kyiv."[26]

Private files of Russian militants

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Thanks to the cooperation with hackers, InformNapalm volunteers were able to access private files of individual Russian militants. In March 2016, a group of cyber activists FalconsFlame [uk] handed over to InformNapalm volunteers data extracted from the phone of Nikolai Reichenau, an employee of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service: photos of the Russian occupier in the settlements of Luhansk, Izvarine, Sorokine (formerly Krasnodon), Donetsk, Ilovaisk, Bakhmut (formerly Artemivsk), Debaltseve, and Vuhlehirsk. The phone also contained videos and photos from Donetsk airport taken in January 2015.[27] After the article was published, the official YouTube channel of the InformNapalm community received a letter from YouTube management demanding that the video be removed[28] within 48 hours due to a complaint about privacy violations. After a series of consultations, InformNapalm volunteers prepared an open letter to the YouTube editorial board.[29]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "International Volunteer Community InformNapalm". informnapalm.rocks. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
  2. ^ https://www.name.com/whois-lookup/informnapalm.org
  3. ^ network, Dmitry Volchek and Claire Bigg for RFE/RL, part of the New East (2015-06-03). "Ukrainian bloggers use social media to track Russian soldiers fighting in east". the Guardian. Retrieved 2021-04-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "Ukraine conflict: Hackers take sides in virtual war". BBC News. 2014-12-20. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  5. ^ Volchek, Dmitry (2 July 2015). "Digital Investigators Try To Disperse Fog Of War In Ukraine". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  6. ^ "InformNapalm: установлены еще три российские военные части, которые участвовали в захвате Крыма". Крым.Реалии (in Russian). 21 September 2020. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  7. ^ Марія Прокопенко (September 11, 2015). "Ввічлива зброя". День.
  8. ^ "MH17 - Potential Suspects and Witnesses from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade" (PDF).
  9. ^ "Сирія. Інфографіка: офіцери ВКС РФ – військові злочинці Кремля". InformNapalm. October 27, 2015.
  10. ^ "Aktivisten stellen Putins Piloten an den Pranger". Bild. November 6, 2015.
  11. ^ Julian Röpcke (November 6, 2015). "Aktivisten stellen Putins Piloten an den Pranger" [Activists put Putin pilots to pillory] (in German). Bild. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  12. ^ InformNapalm відповів Пєскову: «Наші публікації — шокова терапія»
  13. ^ Олександра Горчинська (October 21, 2015). "Кремль відкрив ящик Пандори. "Партизани" з InformNapalm розповіли, чим шантажують російських генералів і як зупинити Путіна". Новое Время. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  14. ^ تسريب صور وأسماء وبيانات الطيارين الروس في سوريا موقع روسي يشبه «ويكيليكس» نشر أيضا عناوينهم وأرقام هواتفهم وتعهد بتسريب المزيد(In Arabic)
  15. ^ "Соцмедиа в информационном противостоянии. Итоги 2016 года - InformNapalm Blog". InformNapalm Blog (in Ukrainian). 2016-12-12. Archived from the original on 2016-12-21. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
  16. ^ ""Донбас в огні" – це путівник для журналістів та експертів, які хочуть розібратися, що відбувається на Донбасі – автори видання" (in Ukrainian). 2017-03-17. Archived from the original on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 2017-10-15.
  17. ^ "Наш путівник допоможе геть необізнаним зорієнтуватися на Донбасі, — автори" (in Ukrainian). 2017-03-17. Archived from the original on 17 April 2017. Retrieved 2017-10-15.
  18. ^ "RUSSIAN AGGRESSION: ВОЛОНТЕРИ ОПУБЛІКУВАЛИ МАСШТАБНУ ІНТЕРАКТИВНУ БАЗУ ДАНИХ РОСІЙСЬКОЇ АГРЕСІЇ" (in Ukrainian). 2018-04-12. Archived from the original on 15 April 2018. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
  19. ^ "Волонтери опублікували масштабну базу даних про російську агресію на Донбасі" (in Ukrainian). 2018-04-12. Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
  20. ^ "russian-aggression" (in Ukrainian). 2018-04-12. Archived from the original on 12 April 2018. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
  21. ^ "Ukrainian OSINT sleuths release largest existing database of evidence of Russian aggression in Ukraine - Euromaidan Press". Euromaidan Press. 2018-04-25. Archived from the original on 25 April 2018. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  22. ^ "КИБЕРХУНТА ПЕРЕДАЕТ ПРИВЕТ СУРКОВУ" (in Russian). Cyberhunta.com. 23 October 2016. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  23. ^ Bjorn, Falcon (25 October 2016). "SurkovLeaks: 1GB mail cache retrieved by Ukrainian hacktivists (English)". InformNapalm.
  24. ^ a b Digital Forensic Research Lab (25 October 2016). "Breaking Down the Surkov Leaks – DFRLab". Medium. Atlantic Council.
  25. ^ Murdock, Jason (27 October 2016). "Surkov leaks: Thousands of hacked emails reportedly from high-ranking Kremlin official published". International Business Times UK.
  26. ^ Standish, Reid (25 October 2016). "Hacked: Putin Aide's Emails Detail Alleged Plot to Destabilize Ukraine". Foreign Policy.
  27. ^ Руда, Оксана (3 March 2016). "Хакери заламали телефон спецназівця РФ і оприлюднили докази його участі у війні на Донбасі". Zaxid.net. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  28. ^ "Хакеры #FF спалили спецназовца ФСИН России (18+)". YouTube. Inform Napalm. 2 March 2016. Archived from the original on 11 April 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  29. ^ "Відкритий лист до YouTube: терорист із ФСВП РФ подав скаргу на "конфіденційність"". ІнформНапалм. 4 March 2016. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
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