How we Geolocated a Photo of a Russian Missile Programming Team - bellingcat

Abstraction: OSINT geolocation walkthrough verifying Russian missile team photo

Key points:

• Bellingcat verified a group photo of Russia's GVC (Main Computation Centre of General Staff) missile guidance team at Moscow's Znamenka 19 MoD facility
• Geolocation uses two layers: big-picture details (brick patterns, columns, stair layout visible in satellite) and micro-details (drain gutter, no-smoking sign design, door color, floor cracks)
• Initial false lead suspected Frunze Naberezhnaya National Defence Management Centre due to similar white walls; ruled out after finding no matching entrance imagery
• Confirmed via high-resolution photo found on Vkontakte, geotagged to Znamenka street, taken by a roofer atop the north wall in 2021 — eight years after the original 2013 photo
• GVC staff addresses at Znamenka 19 cross-referenced from leaked Russian car-registration and delivery-app databases
• Source was a whistleblower from inside the missile team who contacted investigators via burner email

Connections: Bellingcat · Christo Grozev · Geolocation · Open Source Intelligence

Source: https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2022/10/28/how-we-geolocated-a-photo-of-a-russian-missile-programming-team/