Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins details how his small unit identified two suspects for the nerve agent attack in the UK. EPA
Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins details how his small unit identified two suspects for the nerve agent attack in the UK. EPA

Bellingcat: How one man harnessed YouTube to embarrass Russia



The outing of the second Russian agent sent to kill Sergei Skripal marks another remarkable success for the investigative website Bellingcat and its founder Eliot Higgins.

In less than eight years, Mr Higgins has developed from the author of a little-known blog to a leading authority on the use of weapons of war and the source of a string of rigorously-researched scoops.

His findings have been scorned by the Russian government which claimed that his group was an arm of the British state. He has been accused of being the tool of security services from Israel to the United States.

The reality is for most of the last six years, Mr Higgins, 39, has been running a single-handed operation with the help of a few other volunteers from the living room of his home in the central English city of Leicester.

Operating under the pseudonym Brown Moses, Mr Higgins first built his reputation with a blog that forensically examined social media and videos from the conflicts in Libya and Syria.

His fully-fledged blog emerged only in 2012 after he lost his job helping to house asylum seekers and a six-month hiatus after the birth of his daughter the day before Muammar Qaddafi was killed in October 2011.

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He had no formal journalism training – dropping out of a media studies course – and spent a decade in business administration and finance before indulging his passion for online argument and obsessive scrutiny.

His expertise was to organised and examine the mass of videos pushed out on YouTube by all sides in the conflicts. Often ignored by the mass media because of their perceived unreliability, Mr Higgins systematically assessed and cross-referenced hundreds of videos to pinpoint locations, events and chart developments in conflicts.

He uncovered the smuggling of arms to the Syrian opposition. He laid the groundwork for a story later run in the New York Times that showed how Saudi Arabia had bought arms from the Croatian government which were eventually smuggled to the Free Syrian Army.

By the time the Obama administration announced it had evidence that Syrian regime had used chemical weapons against civilians, Mr Higgins had run a series of stories based in part on the scrutiny of weapons and their effects.

Using crowdfunding, he set up Bellingcat in 2014 – ‘belling the cat’ means to take on a dangerous enterprise – and has slowly grown in scale to employ ten members of staff, plus translators and volunteers, he told the BBC.

Despite its small-scale, it has harnessed new techniques to back up its claims, using free and open source tools such as Google Maps to verify and debunk theories.

The group first identified a Russian military unit responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, that killed 298 passengers and crew.

Using social media profiles of Russian servicemen, photographs and geolocation techniques, the group successfully debunked claims by the Russian government that a Ukrainian military unit was responsible.

Its findings were verified three years later by UN prosecutors – who were given the Bellingcat dossier – and said their investigations and recovery of munitions had proved undoubted Russian involvement.

Its most eye-catching success have been in the last month with the unmasking of the two men behind the Salisbury attack as a highly-decorated Russian military officer and one of its doctors.

Mr Higgins said the group’s work was looking to expand its workers to scrutinise Yemen and Libya.

“All of this because I made use of resources available to anyone with an internet connection yet poorly exploited by the mainstream media,” he wrote in 2013.

The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
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Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home. 

THE SPECS

Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder

Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)

Power: 141bhp 

Torque: 250Nm 

Price: Dh64,500

On sale: Now

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners

England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29

VEZEETA PROFILE

Date started: 2012

Founder: Amir Barsoum

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: HealthTech / MedTech

Size: 300 employees

Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)

Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC

Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLE

Price, base / as tested Dh274,000 (estimate)

Engine 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder

Gearbox  Nine-speed automatic

Power 245hp @ 4,200rpm

Torque 500Nm @ 1,600rpm

Fuel economy, combined 6.4L / 100km

German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The specs: 2019 Infiniti QX50

Price, base: Dh138,000 (estimate)
Engine: 2.0L, turbocharged, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 268hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 380Nm @ 4,400rpm
Fuel economy: 6.7L / 100km (estimate)