News and Updates from Bellingcat’s Editorial Team

Jun 14, 2026

2 min read

June 14, 2026

Bellingcat has been tracking Russian vessels taking grain from occupied Crimea for more than three years. This week, we published our latest investigation, identifying a ship that surreptitiously shipped grain from the port city of Feodosia to Benghazi in Libya.

We also investigated the digital links between Ruptly, a Russian-state news agency, and Viory, a UAE-based news agency that promotes itself as serving the Global South.

Here’s the latest from Bellingcat.

New Technique Helps Track Russian Grain Smuggling Expansion to Libya

Bellingcat used a new open source technique that utilises AIS heading data to observe a Russian ship surreptitiously export grain from Feodosia in occupied Crimea to Benghazi in Libya. The bulk carrier Grumant made the journey between February and April this year. Bellingcat first investigated Russia’s shadow grain fleet in 2023. Since then, five ships we identified have been sanctioned by the European Union and another has been sanctioned by the US Department of Treasury.

Tracing Digital Links Between Viory and Ruptly

A Bellingcat investigation has found multiple links between the digital infrastructure of Viory, a self-described news agency of the Global South, and Ruptly, a branch of sanctioned Russian propaganda outlet Russia Today. The links include shared IP addresses, a Viory-linked site using a digital security certificate registered to Ruptly and Ruptly sending site performance data to Viory. While there have been previous reports on suspected links between the two outlets, Bellingcat’s investigation adds new evidence about Viory’s ties to Ruptly.