Tracking Truth from the Sky
Inside Bellingcat’s OSINT Training
By Katerina Topalova
In early July, I joined a group of journalists, researchers, and activists in Amsterdam for a week-long intensive training led by Bellingcat, the investigative collective known for pioneering open-source journalism. The goal: to sharpen our digital investigation skills and learn how to uncover hidden truths using publicly available data.
From environmental destruction to war crimes, much of today’s evidence is scattered across the internet—buried in videos, satellite images, metadata, and forgotten archives. This training was about how to find it, verify it, and tell the story with precision.
Each day began with case studies from real investigations: mapping airstrikes in Syria, identifying perpetrators of environmental crimes, tracing arms shipments, or geolocating conflict footage from Ukraine. We then moved into hands-on sessions, using tools like Sentinel Hub and Copernicus satellite imagery, QGIS for spatial analysis, and reverse image search engines to verify visuals circulating online.
We analyzed satellite data to reveal the progression of pollution in areas where no official records existed. I immediately thought of neglected industrial zones in the Balkans—places I’ve reported on where contamination is suspected but not acknowledged. The potential for using these tools in environmental investigations across North Macedonia and Serbia felt urgent and real.
Funded by the European Union, the Innovation. Media. Minds Program: Support to Public Service Journalism in the Western Balkans, is managed by the Goethe-Institut on behalf of the European Commission and in collaboration with its implementing partner DW Akademie. The contents of this story are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
In early July, I joined a group of journalists, researchers, and activists in Amsterdam for a week-long intensive training led by Bellingcat, the investigative collective known for pioneering open-source journalism. The goal: to sharpen our digital investigation skills and learn how to uncover hidden truths using publicly available data.
"The workshop came at a moment when traditional reporting methods are no longer enough."
From environmental destruction to war crimes, much of today’s evidence is scattered across the internet—buried in videos, satellite images, metadata, and forgotten archives. This training was about how to find it, verify it, and tell the story with precision.
Each day began with case studies from real investigations: mapping airstrikes in Syria, identifying perpetrators of environmental crimes, tracing arms shipments, or geolocating conflict footage from Ukraine. We then moved into hands-on sessions, using tools like Sentinel Hub and Copernicus satellite imagery, QGIS for spatial analysis, and reverse image search engines to verify visuals circulating online.
"For me, the turning point came during a session on environmental OSINT."
We analyzed satellite data to reveal the progression of pollution in areas where no official records existed. I immediately thought of neglected industrial zones in the Balkans—places I’ve reported on where contamination is suspected but not acknowledged. The potential for using these tools in environmental investigations across North Macedonia and Serbia felt urgent and real.
"The aim isn’t just to prove something happened, but to connect it to responsibility and impact. That’s where journalism comes in."
Bellingcat’s investigators emphasized a key lesson: technology is not the story—accountability is.Funded by the European Union, the Innovation. Media. Minds Program: Support to Public Service Journalism in the Western Balkans, is managed by the Goethe-Institut on behalf of the European Commission and in collaboration with its implementing partner DW Akademie. The contents of this story are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.