“Russia has openly and repeatedly lied”

The British portal Bellingcat has become world famous shortly after its launch thanks to its investigations concerning the war in Ukraine. However, 36-year-old Eliot Higgins, who has been the project’s ideological inspiration, has no journalistic background. Formerly an avid gamer, he has grown all by himself into a military analyst, listened to by influential media and invited to the NATO offices as a consultant.

Bellingcat investigations rely on open sources, using the information posted by witnesses of the events on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. A few volunteers help Higgins in this effort. They include a man who worked for the Stasi (the secret police of the late GDR), a software engineer from Microsoft, and a law student.

The American Newsweek called Higgins “a sworn enemy of Vladimir Putin.” This is not surprising, since it was the Bellingcat staffers, who, having done a tremendous work collecting videos, photos, and posts on social networks, found that it was a Russian Buk missile that downed Malaysian Flight MH17 Boeing airliner over the Donbas. In addition, Higgins’s team has published a number of materials that indicate the direct presence of Russian regular troops in eastern Ukraine.

British and world media are actively quoting Bellingcat investigations’ results. Based on this resource’s materials, influential media retract erroneous information about Ukraine they had published before.

The Day contacted Higgins and inquired about Bellingcat’s work, its efforts to debunk the Russian propaganda myths, and the likelihood of its materials being used by an international MH17 tribunal.

“It was actually an accident that got me into this investigation business,” Higgins started. “I had a lot of free time at my job then. After my contract expired, I began to discuss the 2011 events in Libya and found a lot of information about them on social networks, posted by locals and journalists. These messages were mostly ignored instead of being spread along with other information through the media.

“This was partly because such information was difficult to verify, and I started to do it on my own, although my real motivation was to win Internet debates. I started my blog Brown Moses then, in early 2012.”

How many Russian news and propaganda messages have you debunked?

“It has been a lot. However, we must realize that there are several varieties of Russian propaganda, even just in the MH17 case. One of them provides general ‘white noise’ signals, which consist of nonsense. This is usually a jumbled mess of contradictions. However, people see each reported version of the events as meaningful, even though they do not really know which of these versions to believe.

“There is more insidious propaganda at work as well. It was disseminated by the Russian defense ministry at a press conference on MH17, which took place on July 21, 2014. They presented a compilation of lies and fabrications, a massive of false data on MH17. Russia blamed Ukraine for this tragedy before, but having access to open sources, including the investigations done by social media, regular citizens can now check the facts for themselves. That press conference shows that Russia has openly and repeatedly lied.”

Which of your debunking efforts you consider the most high-profile and important?

“I believe that debunking fake news offered at press conferences held by the Russian defense ministry has been it. Our work in this line has proved the importance and impact of what we do. However, it also shows that Russia’s official response to the Boeing’s downing is lying and fabrication of evidence. A party which is not guilty of that crime would never act in this way.”

Are you planning to debunk other Russian-produced fakes, to go beyond those relating to Ukraine?

“I have no particular interest in Russian affairs. I was drawn into it by the case of MH17 and the crisis in Ukraine. Russia creates a lot of stuff that one can investigate and debunk. If the Russians switch to telling the truth, I will turn to some other topic.”

How does your audience react to your work? Are the British and other English-speaking readers prepared to receive the information about Russia which you provide?

“Our job, in fact, involves a very wide range of news organizations in several countries. Therefore, we have started to prepare our reports in different languages. I recently did report Hiding in Plain Sight for the Atlantic Council, using open sources and private investigations to prove Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine. As it turned out, this work has become extremely popular with governments of other countries. By the way, we also got a nice Russian translation of it.”

Who are the people behind Bellingcat? What is your motivation?

“I am Bellingcat’s only salaried employee. The portal is supported by 20 to 25 people who prepare articles, 10 of them make up Bellingcat’s investigative team. These people mostly worked on our Ukraine-themed reports. The main motivation for me is that I like to use open sources and conduct investigations which rely on social networks. I see my interest in this only growing, and I am excited about it.”

In your opinion, how effective is fighting lies and propaganda with truth?

“This is our only option, especially when it comes to Russia. That nation does not try to use any one opposing stance, it brings many contradicting ‘arguments’ to the fore to confuse the audience. Attempting to deal with these techniques by employing the likes of them will only confuse people even further. Thus, the only way forward is to tell the truth and provide publicly accessible information to the greatest possible extent. This applies both to sources of information and conclusions contained in the data.

“By the way, I have noticed a great interest that Eastern European countries have in our work. They ask to teach them the methods and techniques that we use. Many organizations turn to us as well, ranging from media to NGOs and governments. I was interviewed twice on the MH17 case. The emphasis was on the methodology that we had used to reach our conclusions, and the reaction to it was very positive.”

Bellingcat’s MH17 investigation openly says that the plane was shot down by pro-Russian separatists, whom Russia supports. In recent months, Ukraine and several other countries pushed for creation of an international tribunal to investigate the MH17 case. What is the likelihood of that tribunal using your investigations’ data as well?

“The International Criminal Court and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights are very interested in our materials. The Dutch police have expressed their interest in the MH17 case as well. Therefore, it is possible that the information we are working with may be used by this tribunal.

“It is a new field for me. Since we are dealing with criminal investigations here, the police tend to put restrictions on the use of such information, even when discovering important facts is the top priority. Therefore, it is harder to do than most people think.”