Russia-Ukraine Flash Report 22 AUG 2022 10:45 PDT - OPSEC and Ethics (Patreon)

Pinned to the top of our feed on Patreon is the code of ethics from the Society of Professional Journalists.

Do no harm - that's one of the pillars.

Sometimes there are operational security [OPSEC] failures that are so bad we don't share them. You see a lot of aftermaths but not the before. That's because - do no harm. Sharing or amplifying information that could lead to an attack crosses the line of journalism and moves to activism - or worse. Even if it is already in the wild, amplifying it, especially as our footprint grows across multiple channels, breaches ethics.

Yesterday's Situation Report highlighted the destruction of a Russian ammunition depot in Donetsk. The site was located less than 1,000 meters from a hospital and 350 meters from civilian neighborhoods. Snark alert - I wonder what Amnesty International has to say?

Now for the rest of the story. Here is a video that was posted on social media on August 8. 

Operational Security Fail - Donetsk 

This site was geolocated in minutes, and it was more than an ammo depot. It was a barracks and equipment base. A contact told us the delay in hitting the base was due to it being monitored. When it became clear that more munitions, gear, and troops, were being positioned here, a decision was made to wait and let it build up. The site burned through the night, and munitions were still cooking off at midday.

We are 180 days into this war, and amazingly Russian operational security has gotten worse, not better.

Loose lips sink ships

Camera phones, create kill zones