| When Russia first invaded Ukraine last week, you might have been overwhelmed by the barrage of videos and headlines that flooded your screens. And you may have seen the warnings that a lot of this news was rife with disinformation. In a constantly evolving breaking news situation like this war, how do you keep track of what's legitimate vs. what's fake? Here at The Post, we've been focused on this question, alongside several other reporters and editors on our Visual Forensics, Investigations, Foreign, National Security, Graphics and Photo teams. That means we're spending countless hours verifying video from social platforms and across the Internet, which then gets folded into our 24-hour live updates about this conflict. Russia in particular has such a long history of disinformation campaigns that journalists (and audiences) have to be extra vigilant in fact checking. Our verification process uses small clues typically visible in videos. It starts with geolocating the footage — confirming the exact location by comparing landmarks in the video to reference material like Google Earth. We then verify the timing, using eyewitness testimony, local reports and other videos of the same incident. Of course, we also consider the source and what kind of agenda they may have. During any armed conflict, an important part of verifying found video involves scouring the Internet to determine that a specific piece of footage isn't misidentified. Another method is sending visuals to weapons and military experts to learn about the kinds of munitions being used. As we collect and verify videos, we log each one in a master spreadsheet. It now has more than 300 Ukraine conflict entries and will help us with future reporting on this war. Here's one key example: In the early hours of Feb. 25, videos showed explosions in Kyiv, some of the first signs of violence in the capital city. Reporter Joyce Sohyun Lee spent hours reviewing nine different clips from various angles of the explosions.
Six of the clips are featured in the video below. Joyce synchronized audio and visual cues in the videos and confirmed the locations by searching around Kyiv on Google Earth for similar shapes to the ones seen in the footage to verify the incident.  | | | Our team verified videos that showed the aftermath of heavy fighting outside a man's home near Kyiv on Feb. 27. I (Dalton) speak Russian, and knowing the language provided information about the location of the video, and we knew from previous reporting that there had been fighting in the small town of Bucha involving the units mentioned.
Graphics reporter Atthar Mirza then used Google Street View to match architecture of nearby buildings, and we confirmed the location with local residents. Visual clues indicated the soldiers in the video below were Russian forces. Videos from this war that require careful verification continue to surface every day. We hope that understanding how much time, effort and caution we put into monitoring clips from Ukraine can give you a better sense of what's happening there — and a reason to trust The Post's reporting on it.  (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post) The swift avalanche of nonmilitary actions against Russian President Vladimir Putin has convinced many world leaders that global power dynamics have entered a phase of startling and perhaps enduring change. By Marc Fisher ● Read more » |    | | | Here's the latest from the authors of last week's newsletter — including how they vet information and assess which sources to trust. They're both still in Ukraine, and Isabelle Khurshudyan celebrated her 30th birthday this week in a bunker. | Whitney Leaming, Salwan Georges and Isabelle Khurshudyan discuss how they approach sources, build trust and report on the ongoing conflict. By Kanyakrit Vongkiatkajorn ● Read more » | | | | |  (Heidi Levine for The Post) More than 1 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded last week, but those who were pregnant were left with few good choices. By Siobhán O'Grady, Whitney Shefte and Kostiantyn Khudov ● Read more » | | | | | A few hours before the Jan. 6 attack, the video shows, a member of the far-right Oath Keepers group — who has since pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy — was in Roger Stone's suite. Exclusive ● By Dalton Bennett and Jon Swaine ● Read more » | | | | Although much remains unknown about long covid, experts said it shouldn't be dismissed or taken lightly. "This is real, definable and causes significant patient suffering." By Allyson Chiu ● Read more » | | | | | Drawing on United Nations findings and analysis from outside experts, The Washington Post envisioned how three places could be transformed depending on humanity's emissions trajectory. By Aaron Steckelberg, Sarah Kaplan, Brady Dennis and Yutao Chen ● Read more » | | | | The filing is intended to challenge conservative lawyer John Eastman's claim that he should not be required to turn over thousands of emails the committee has requested, according to people with knowledge of the matter. By Josh Dawsey, Tom Hamburger, Jacqueline Alemany and Rosalind S. Helderman ● Read more » | | | | |  (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post) After losing his legs, former Navy SEAL Dan Cnossen fought his way to a new life as a skier. By Dave Sheinin ● Read more » | | | | | | Some of Martin's friends said they were a bit ignorant about racism and Black history before his death and that his trial delivered bitter spoonfuls of truth that are still relevant. By Lateshia Beachum ● Read more » | | | | | In less than six months, one-third of the park's wolves have been killed, the most serious threat yet to the world's most observed population. By Joshua Partlow ● Read more » | | | |
Photo of the week  (Heidi Levine for The Post) | As Ukraine's war intensifies and spreads into multiple cities, the casualties are mounting. So are the obstacles to give a proper send-off to the dead. Above, Oksana Shlonska buries her husband, Volodymyr Nezhenets, in a Kyiv cemetery on Friday, despite the danger of shelling. Nezhenets was a 54-year-old child psychologist who signed up last week to fight against Russia and was fatally shot in a gun battle not far from this spot on Feb. 27. "It is important for me to bury him today," Shlonska said as she waited in the morning at the morgue to claim her husband's remains. See more images from Post photographers in Ukraine, then explore the best photos from this week. |
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