Justin Yarga

Excited to see our investigative piece featured in Expo coming issue. “Nya Dagbladets nya kläder: Så får den svenska högerextrema sajten internationell spridning”

“Somewhere deep in his mind, comrade Putin compares himself to Stalin” Human rights activist Oleg Orlov was arrested after he called Russia a totalitarian and fascist country. He fears that Russia is heading towards the return of the death penalty and urges European offi...

Human rights activist Oleg Orlov was arrested after he called Russia a totalitarian and fascist country. In interview to Barents Observer, he says he fears Russia is heading towards a return to death penalty. And he urges European countries to support Ukraine in the war

A great investigative piece by @reuters.com: Thousands of troops, millions of shells – Inside North Korea’s vast operation to help Russia’s war on Ukraine #OSINT

Military Drone Proliferation Marks Destabilizing Shift in Africa’s Armed Conflicts – Africa Center A revolution in unmanned drone systems is reshaping the dynamics of Africa’s conflicts, providing militaries tactical advantages but also risks.

Excellent article by Nate Allen from the @AfricaACSS. “Military Drone Proliferation Marks Destabilizing Shift in Africa’s Armed Conflicts” africacenter.org/spotlight/dr...

“Sooner or later an accident will happen” A sanctioned shadow fleet oil tanker has drifted for a week outside Norway's far northern Varanger Peninsula. 'It is not a question of if, but when, an accident will happen along our coast,' says Frod...

Sanctioned shadow fleet oil tanker "Unity" has drifted for a week outside Norway's far northern Varanger Peninsula. "It is not a question of if, but when, an accident will happen along our coast," says Frode Pleym, leader of Greenpeace Norway

Une importante campagne de désinformation russe contre la France a pu « empoisonner » des outils d’IA L’organisation NewsGuard a dévoilé jeudi l’existence d’une opération de désinformation qui est parvenue, chose rare, à atteindre une importante audience. Son étude montre également que des chatbots ré...

One of the effects of pro-Russian disinformation campaigns is now being felt in Gen AI. Some AI tools have been fed with fake news from these campaigns. www.lemonde.fr/pixels/artic...

Russia uses IDs of dead Africans to spread propaganda, investigation finds Stolen identities were used to write pro-Russian articles in Africa.

Russia uses stolen identities of dead Africans to spread propaganda, investigation reveals tvpworld.com/85991346/rus...

Burkina Faso’s Relentless Crackdown on Dissent, Media “I rose through the ranks!” joked Maixent Somé, an exiled Burkinabè activist and critic of the country's military junta on X yesterday, after learning that his name appears on a list of wanted terrori...

#Burkina Faso. “Since taking power in a 2022 coup, military authorities have systematically cracked down on the media, the political opposition, and peaceful dissent, both outside and inside the country”. www.hrw.org/news/2025/04...

In this episode of Backlight, Beatriz and Tessa speak to two reporters from the investigation - @yarga.bsky.social who led on the Sweden story and @jusbraun.bsky.social

Au Burkina Faso, une enquête ouverte après des appels à « l’extermination » de Peuls Cette communauté, cible de massacres la semaine dernière à Solenzo, est souvent stigmatisée, accusée de composer le gros des rangs des groupes djihadistes qui endeuillent le Sahel.

Au Burkina Faso, une enquête ouverte après des appels à « l’extermination » de Peuls

A masterful report by @aljazeera.com on the avatars of Prigozhin’s Project Lakhta, these fake military experts who sign pro-Russian articles for payment in African media. This is the case of Grégoire Dongobada, an avatar that actually uses the photo of a Central African football referee died in 2020

Dongobada was notably used during the case of the fake mass grave in Gossi, Mali, which aimed to blame France for war crimes committed by the Wagner Group.

archive.ph/GTHdp

Excited to see that this investigation we worked on is release today! It such an indescribable experience and honour to work with @yarnoritzen.com and the team at AJI Unit.

Credits where due: this story would not have happened without these people.

Justin Yarga (@yarga.bsky.social) and Hanneke Slob (can't find her) who had a dataset that brought us 90% of the way.

And @philipobaji.bsky.social for his knowledge about everything that Russia does in Africa.

Standby: 🌍📷
Clue: #GhostReporters
Coming soon

Burkina Faso: Government-Allied Militias Linked to Massacre Pro-government militias in Burkina Faso are implicated in video footage circulating on social networks showing the massacre of dozens of civilians in and around the western city of Solenzo on March 10...

Burkina Faso: Government-Allied Militias Linked to Massacre
www.hrw.org/news/2025/03...

Niger orders three Chinese oil officials out of country, sources say Niger's junta has ordered three Chinese officials working in the oil sector to leave the country, two sources familiar with the decision told Reuters on Friday, in the latest move by regional military governments to assert greater control over resources.

Niger's junta has ordered three Chinese officials working in the oil sector to leave the country www.reuters.com/world/africa...

🇧🇫Disappearances, expulsion, self-censorship and even conscription are some of the dire threats facing reporters in Burkina Faso.

Patrick Egwu spoke to journalists and experts on how press freedom has declined since the military takeover in 2022.
https://buff.ly/3PH23Z1

Un État djihadiste pourrait bientôt voir le jour en Afrique de l’Ouest : voici pourquoi L’explosion démographique, l’échec de la gouvernance et la pauvreté endémique créent un terrain idéal pour un État djihadiste.

theconversation.com/un-etat-djih...

Security Strategy of Recruiting Cheap Militiamen Backfires in Africa By arming civilians who are poorly trained and have little to no respect for human rights, the military in Burkina Faso has brought the West African nation to the brink of civil war.

#Burkina Faso, a nation that once prided itself on tolerance and peaceful interethnic relations, is now home to one of the deadliest conflicts in West Africa. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/15/w...

Niger : 21 civils tués dans l’attaque d’un convoi de marchandises à Téra, dans l’ouest du pays Point de passage obligé pour des milliers de camions provenant du port de Lomé, au Togo, via le nord du Burkina Faso, Téra est devenu l’épicentre des violences djihadistes au Niger.

À Téra (Niger), 21 civils tués dans une attaque contre des véhicules de transport le 5 décembre par des hommes armés www.lemonde.fr/afrique/arti...

Sweden’s brain waste problem: how the social welfare state locks migrant professionals out of the workforce unbiasthenews.org/brain-waste-...

Niger : l’armée américaine annonce avoir achevé son retrait Après la fermeture de la dernière base américaine au Niger en août, il y restait « une vingtaine de personnes » pour assurer le retrait du matériel militaire. Leur départ met un point final à la présence militaire américaine dans le pays dirigé depuis…

Niger : l’armée américaine annonce avoir achevé son retrait

São Tomé and Príncipe strengthens military ties with Russia The controversial agreement requires a delicate balancing act from the tiny African nation in the current global context.

São Tomé and Príncipe strengthens military ties with Russia macaonews.org/news/lusofon...

‘Russia’s African lab’: How Putin won over Burkina Faso after French adieu aje.io/7prpa8

This is how much west African countries depend on Russia for wheat. www.datawrapper.de/_/lFQLj/?v=5

Mapping Chinese Loans to Africa, based on data from the Boston university Global development policy center.

Mapping school closures in Burkina Faso. In May 2023, almost one million pupils were affected by the security crisis that the country has been facing since 2015.