Locating the Venezuelan-affiliated Tanker 'Pursued' by American Maritime Authorities

Emma Pengelly

Image source

We are verifying images and video posted this morning that purport to show the aftermath of a reported car bomb explosion that Russian officials say fatally injured a high-ranking soldier in Moscow.

Officials in Russia stated that Lt Gen Fanil Sarvarov was inside the vehicle that detonated and that he succumbed of his wounds. An investigation is currently ongoing.

The initial step to verify the location of where the pictures were from relied on posts saying the blast happened on Yasenevaya Street in the southern district of the capital city of Russia.

Our analysis employed panoramic mapping services on digital map platforms and the Russian search engine Yandex to match the distinctive yellow colour of a nearby residential complex captured in the footage.

Identifying other structures, lamp-posts and the road configuration verified where the pictures were taken.

Additionally, we verified that the videos were new and that the images had not undergone digital alteration.