DISINFO: Bellingcat is a false investigative site backed by Western intelligence, aimed to whitewash terrorists in Syria
SUMMARY
It is now confirmed that Bellingcat, the website of alleged investigative journalism based in the Netherlands, is an organisation funded by US and UK intelligence contractors that help terrorist groups in the Middle East, especially in Syria, as proven by a recent investigation by the site The Grayzone. Behind the mask of an “independent” organisation specialised in data verification and open source intelligence, Bellingcat hides sinister strategies. Despite its vehement insistence in that it is independent from any governmental influence, Bellingcat is funded both by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) of the US government and by the European Union, The Grayzone explains. According to those records, Bellingcat accepted huge sums from Western intelligence contractors, which themselves provided direct support to jihadist groups allied to Al Qaeda in Syria, the same elements that provide ‘evidences’ to Belllingcat to condemn Damascus for all kind of doubtful charges.
RESPONSE
The claim is false, aiming to discredit investigative site Bellingcat -a frequent target of pro-Kremlin disinformation- by framing it as a cover of Western intelligence services that spreads false information to whitewash terrorists and attack the Syrian regime.
The alleged “investigation” by The Grayzone is based in a mere review of Bellingcat’s own website, which in transparency openly shows its funding sources. Although it is correct that the NED, the European Union and some US and British contractors contribute economically to the project, they are only a handful among many other financial sources, and not even the most important. Through this diversification, Bellingcat can ensure its editorial independence. Since detailed investigations are published for free, about two thirds of their budget comes from grants and donations and one third from trainings.
The interest for pro-Kremlin outlets in discrediting Bellingcat is clear, as this organisation uncovered key elements in Russia’s responsibility in the downing of the MH17 flight over Ukraine, in the chemical poisonings of Sergey Skripal and Alexei Navalny, and in other Russian military intelligence operations such as the blowing up of the Vrbetice weapons storage site in 2014 and the poisoning of Bulgarian arms dealer Emilian Gebrev in 20115. This disinformation story appeared only days after Russia had labelled Bellingcat a ‘foreign agent’ entity, a negative designation aimed to raise hostility against it.
No evidence is presented to back the affirmation that the same Western intelligence contractors that fund Bellingcat also provide direct support to “terrorists” in Syria. The Syrian regime uses the label “terrorist” for all the opposition, and both pro-Assad and pro-Kremlin disinformation devoted many efforts to discredit opposition groups such as the White Helmets that provided evidence of atrocities carried out by Damascus and Moscow. Contrary to the claim, serious human rights violations by the Syrian regime, including the use of chemical weapons and the deliberate targeting of medical facilities, have been well documented by many observers.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives about Bellingcat in our database, such as claims that it spread harmful rumours about Russia upon request from CIA and MI6, that its reports do not contain evidence, that it is a Factory of Fakes used for an information war against Russia, that its report on Navalny’s “poisoning” aimed to destroy Nord Stream 2, that it has been convicted for disinformation, or that its investigation on the MH17 tragedy was just a reaction to new proof that Ukrainian forces shot down the plane.