As Russia intensifies its information and cyber operations against European countries, understanding how Russian intelligence units operate is increasingly important.
What can military badges and medals reveal about Russia’s intelligence and cyber operations?
In this webinar, Hervé Letoqueux (CEO, CheckFirst) will present findings from two OSINT investigations showing how photographs of Russian military insignia circulating online can help map structures within Russian intelligence and military units.
Participants will learn:
- The historical context behind the creation of the FSB’s 16th Centre and the GRU’s Information Operations Troops (VIO).
- A depiction of the hierarchy and specialities of the 16th Centre and the VIO, using their symbolic representations.
- How open-source images of military insignia helped map previously undocumented internal structures.
- How unconventional OSINT techniques can use unexpected data sources to investigate opaque intelligence organisations.
The session will also preview a forthcoming third investigation.
Speaker: Hervé Letoqueux, CEO CheckFirst
Hervé Letoqueux, former head of operations at Viginum, now runs the start-up CheckFirst, which operates across several European countries to detect and counter information attacks.
Moderator: Ana Romero Vicente, Community Coordinator, EU DisinfoLab
Ana Romero Vicente is the Community Coordinator at EU DisinfoLab and a specialist in climate disinformation. A journalist by background, she previously worked for major Spanish media outlets and spent 14 years in Brussels leading and contributing to EU-funded projects focused on strategic communications.
The opinions expressed are those of the speakers/authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of EU DisinfoLab. This webinar does not represent an endorsement by EU DisinfoLab of any organisation.
