The article will be devoted to an overview of methods and tools for identifying persons in photographs using open sources.
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We find the torture chamber in Balaklia by geolocation. Using various sources, photographs of the room are analysed, additional images and information are found, the location is verified through BBC footage and mapped to the police station on Google Maps. This makes it possible to establish the exact coordinates of the building, confirming it as the place where the torture chamber was located.
On September 13, 2022, X shared a photo of the interior of an alleged torture chamber in Balaklia. The image shows the text carved on the wall and what it looks like as a structure with two beds in a dark lit room.
The next day, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine stated that the text on the wall is a prayer, but it is important to check everything. Using Google Lens helps in such cases. By taking a screenshot of the text from the tweet and uploading it to Google Images, you can launch Google Lens. Then there is an option to select “Text” to read in the original language or “Translate” to receive a translation. The translation may not be perfect, but it is accurate enough to understand the general meaning.
While it seems obvious that this is the Lord’s Prayer, we can do a quick triple check. To do this, you can click on the “Text” option, then “select all text” and check the Google search results. The first result leads to a Bible site with a prayer in Russian. It claims that this passage is taken from Matthew 6:9-13, which is predicted to be the Lord’s Prayer. It is not known whether the text was there before the invasion, but the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine claims that it was “carved on the wall by Ukrainian prisoners.”
Geolocation of the darkroom can be a complex task that requires additional evidence. You can find more information by using Google Images and searching for “Balaklia Torture House”. One such image shows the same wall with a prayer from a different angle and better lighting. This photo links to an article in The Guardian dated September 14, 2022, where Ukrainian officials claim to have discovered a “torture chamber” used by Russian forces. This approach confirms the correctness of the chosen path.
The article mentioned that a local resident had told the BBC about the torture chamber. The text included a link to a BBC article which was used to further explore the topic.
The BBC article had no useful images for geolocating the torture chamber, but it did contain important information for further investigation. The article provided new keywords and details not previously available, including the name of a correspondent who visited Balaklia and spoke with local residents. This made it possible to expand the search and continue the collection of evidence.
Journalists often provide additional information on their personal social media accounts, including X. To test this theory, Orla Geren’s X account was found, which matches her name. This allows you to get additional information from the original source and continue researching the topic.
There are several methods to check if Orla Geren has shared tweets about Balaklia. You can browse her tweets, use X advanced search to narrow your results by account name, date range, or keywords, or use Google. For example, you can type “balakliya site:https://twitter.com/OrlaGuerin” into the Google search bar to find all tweets from her account that contain the word “balakliya”.
The first search result leads to a BBC News video about the liberated town of Balaklia. At the beginning of the video, the announcer says: “Ukrainian police are taking us to the scene of the crime, inside the former police station.” An important discovery! If the tweet is no longer available, there is an archived video.
You can confirm that the location is correct as Orla Guerin shows the audience the wall with the Lord’s Prayer in the video at the 0:49 minute mark. This can be seen in the screenshot below.
We currently have the key information for the geolocation of the torture chamber. It is known that it is located in the city of Balaklia and, according to new evidence, it is located in the building of the former police station.
Even though we have enough information to start searching the map, it’s not enough. We only have footage of the inside of the police station, and even if we find it on Google Maps, there may not be any pictures of the inside. Even if they are, the rooms may have looked very different before they were converted into a torture chamber. Therefore, you need to keep watching the video to find an image of the outside of the building that will help you visually confirm the location on the map. At the 1:43 minute mark, a war crimes prosecutor can be seen outside a police station building where a large group of people are gathering.
The group of people visible in the frame from 1:04 minute is in the same place as in the frame from 1:43 minute, where investigators and the media are seen near one of the torture victims. Although screenshots are not provided to protect privacy, this confirms that the location is the same. You can now find your local police station on Google Maps by knowing what part of the building looks like. A search for “Balakliya Police Station” and “Balakliya Police Department” leads to the same place, which confirms its correctness.
Unfortunately, as expected, there are no photos of the interior or exterior of the building. However, when using Street View mode, you can find a panoramic photo about 76 meters from the police station. Although it may be a bit far, it is worth a try, as such a panorama can give additional information about the location and appearance of the building.
And as you can see in the screenshot of the panoramic photo, it’s not that far. The building can be seen from a distance if you look to the southwest.
At first glance it looks like the same building, but let’s compare it to the one we saw in one of the BBC News video frames. Below, on the left, is a screenshot of the BBC News video (from the archive) at 1:43, and on the right is a zoomed-in image of a panoramic photo of the building. This is a clear coincidence. The design at the top of the police station building, highlighted in light green below, is exactly the same in both images. In addition to this, we can also notice the presence of two trees: one inside the gate, highlighted in pink, and a larger one, highlighted in dark blue, on the right side of the building.
Thus, it was established that the torture chamber in Balaklia was located in the building of the former police station at coordinates 49.452032, 36.843793. To be more specific, BBC News footage can be analyzed to identify the part of the building where people entered and exited to find the exact location of the torture chambers. It is not necessary at the moment, but for an additional challenge, you can use a few hints from the video materials.
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