/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

🛰 🌏 🏴‍☠️ "It never ceases to amaze me how much you can get away with on the open ocean. 🔶️ Beyond the fascinating fact that there are still places one can hide from a government in 2024, better global coverage of the kind of data needed to fill in the black areas of the map, would certainly be in the public interest. 🔶️ 'Here There Be Monsters' is a choice, and better (or cheaper) data would help OSINT investigators, researchers, environmental advocates, and public agencies in poorer countries, track and understand the problems caused by these dark vessels." 📎 Michael Cruickshank

🛰 🌏 🏴‍☠️ "You might think that in a time of satellite megaconstellations all of the Earth's surface would be imaged regularly, & if something big happened, we'd see it. ⬛️ Well, you'd be wrong... 🔶️ The truth is that most well-known EO satellites don't image areas of the ocean away from land. 🔶️ It is surprisingly difficult to get an exact answer for 'why' here. I've heard different combinations of power-saving, downlink limitations, & land-optimized instrumentation. 🔶️ It's worth noting here, that I am talking about satellites with a high enough resolution to monitor human activity on the open ocean (eg. vessels), not lower resolution sats that monitor sea state or help with weather forecasting (eg. Sentinel-3). 🔶️ The coverage of major EO satellite platforms used by OSINT researchers, including Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, and Landsat can be seen below. 🔶️ The (non-open-source) PlanetScope constellation of Dove/SuperDove satellites, is also frequently used by OSINT researchers and covers coastal areas, the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, and South China Sea. Govt. clients may be able to access more areas. 🔶️ Outside of these platforms (and the areas they cover), your only option would be to task a high-resolution optical or SAR satellite to image an area of the ocean at an extremely high cost. Moreover, you would need forewarning about where/when something was about to happen. 🔶️ Notably, the same trade-offs (likely) exist for current generation spy satellites, in that high resolution = narrow field of view, and thus necessitates foreknowledge when combined with the limitations imposed by orbital mechanics. 🔶️ The end result of this is that >50% of the Earth's surface is simply unmonitored in any useful way. A ship with its AIS transponder off, or spoofed, can simply disappear. Illegal cargos can be traded, sanctions can be dodged, and fisheries plundered." 📎 Michael Cruickshank

🚢 🇻🇪 The current tanker AIS picture off Venezuela is pure fiction. Massive spoofing and misidentification are taking place. 📎 Sal Mercogliano

🚢 🌍 🏴‍☠️ Taken Vessels | Tanker Trackers "This is a publicly-accessible page showing the latest whereabouts of vessels that are being held by the Iranians and the Houthis. We are doing this for the benefit of the crews' families as well as stakeholders." https://tankertrackers.com/report/taken 📎 Tanker Trackers

🇷🇺 🇹🇷 🇺🇦 Analysis | Russia struck two Turkish-operated vessels near Odesa and framed the attacks as intentional warnings to Kyiv. Turkey responded by shooting down a Russian reconnaissance drone over the Black Sea. Turkey is one of the few NATO states still providing Russia commercial and diplomatic space. Turkish ports handle oil products and dual-use components Russia struggles to source elsewhere. Turkish banks help navigate sanctions. Turkish firms keep Russian logistics chains running. President Erdoğan publicly demanded Putin stop attacks on ports and energy infrastructure. Turkish officials warned against turning the Black Sea into a confrontation zone. If Ankara rethinks this relationship, Russia faces slower trade, fewer loopholes, and tighter restrictions on the goods sustaining its war economy. 📎 Euromaidan Press

🇺🇦 🇷🇺 At least 10th tanker attacked in the Mediterranean in the past year On December 19th, Oman-flagged sanctioned Crude Oil Tanker MT QENDIL (IMO 9310525) was attacked in the Mediterranean with multiple drones. MT QENDIL is listed under EU/UK sanctions and associated with Russia’s shadow fleet. QENDIL departed the Gulf of Kutch, India on 30 Nov after discharging. India continues to import Russian crude oil that is subject to Western sanctions. Ukrainian media, including RBC-Ukraine, reported that the vessel was struck by drones in neutral Mediterranean waters by Ukraine’s SBU. ⚡️ Interesting difference between this and previous attacks is the use of UAV rather than limpet mine at such range. Also that it dropped what appears to be a small munition (grenade or similar). Which also suggests the drone was small and did not fly from Ukraine 📎 Martin Kelly

🇺🇸 Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie are planning to draft articles of impeachment and pursue inherent contempt against AG Pam Bondi for failing to fully release the Epstein files. 📎 AF Post

🇺🇸📁⁉️ — In addition to the EFTA00000468 file, which included a picture of Trump, at least 18 other documents and files were found to have been removed overnight by the Department of Justice from the Epstein files released yesterday.

🇺🇸⚡️- File 468 has been removed from the Epstein files. It was one of the few files showing Trump’s involvement. A clear sign of a cover up.

🏹 🇵🇬 Man dodges arrows during inter-tribal shootout in Papua New Guinea. 📎 Clash Report

🇺🇸 🇻🇪 US interdicting sanctioned vessel off Venezuelan coast, officials say Dec 20 (Reuters) - The United States is interdicting a sanctioned vessel off the coast of Venezuela in international waters, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Saturday. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-interdicting-sanctioned-vessel-off-venezuelan-coast-officials-say-2025-12-20/

🇺🇸 🇮🇱 🇮🇷 Netanyahu plans to brief Trump on possible new Iran strikes Israeli officials believe Iran is expanding its ballistic missile program. They are preparing to make the case during an upcoming meeting with Trump that it poses a new threat. Israeli officials also are concerned that Iran is reconstituting nuclear enrichment sites the U.S. bombed in June, the sources said. But, they added, the officials view Iran’s efforts to rebuild facilities where they produce the ballistic missiles and to repair its crippled air defense systems as more immediate concerns. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to meet later this month in Florida at the president’s Mar a Lago estate. At that meeting, the sources said, Netanyahu is expected to make the case to Trump that Iran’s expansion of its ballistic missile program poses a threat that could necessitate swift action. They said part of his argument is expected to be that Iran’s actions present perils not only to Israel but also to the broader region, including U.S. interests. The Israeli leader is expected to present Trump with options for the U.S. to join or assist in any new military operations, the sources said. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/netanyahu-plans-brief-trump-possible-new-iran-strikes-rcna250112

🤖 🇨🇳 "Tech companies would be less hated if their buildings inspired awe in people". - Pablo A. Peniche 📝 factorydoge: "huawei campus btw." 📎 factorydoge

📢 🇨🇳 🇺🇸 Chinese Foreign Ministry on X: "The U.S.’s massive arms sales to China’s Taiwan region grossly interfere in China’s internal affairs, undermine China’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, disrupt peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and send a seriously wrong message to “Taiwan independence” separatist forces and others." "China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this. No one or force should underestimate the strong will and capability of the Chinese government and people to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity." "The real threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is the separatist activities of the Lai Ching-te authorities and external interference. The so-called “assistance in response to threat” to Taiwan will only embolden “Taiwan independence” separatists, put the people in Taiwan on a “powder keg,” push the Taiwan Strait towards danger, and inevitably increase the risk of China-U.S. conflict and confrontation." 📎 Chinese Embassy in US

🇺🇸📁 — Newly released FBI interview notes describe the deliberate and systematic nature of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse: ➡️ The notes show he rejected victims based on race, repeatedly refusing girls he described as “Spanish or dark,” and instructed recruiters to continue finding others. ➡️ He also demanded to see identification not to avoid minors, but to confirm that the girls were under 18. ➡️ The documents describe periods when he was “running out of girls” and detail how recruiters were paid to procure victims, underscoring an organized operation built around exploitation.

🇺🇸⚡️- Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, the creator of the Epstein Transparency Act, has issued a warning to leaders of the DOJ and FBI, stating that they have violated the prohibited grounds for withholding information for not releasing the entirety of the Epstein files, which carries a potential punishment of up to 20 years in prison.

🇺🇸📁 — Jeffrey Epstein eating a boob cake with the Talmud right behind him. 📝Talmud, Sefaria Sanhedrin 54b:20:

A girl who is three years and one day old, whose father arranged her betrothal, is betrothed through intercourse, as the halakhic status of intercourse with her is that of intercourse in all halakhic senses. And in a case where the childless husband of a girl three years and one day old dies, if his brother the yavam engages in intercourse with her, he acquires her as his wife; and if she is married, a man other than her husband is liable for engaging in intercourse with her due to violation of the prohibition against intercourse with a married woman.

—❗️🇺🇸/🇸🇾/🏴 NEW: U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announces the U.S. carried out 70 airstrikes against ISIS positions throughout Syria today, codenamed 'Operation Hawkeye Strike', in response to an attack that killed 2 U.S. servicemembers and one civilian cotractor in Palmyra earlier this month @Middle_East_Spectator

🇺🇸🏴🇸🇾⚡️- Over 70 targets were struck across Syria earlier today, a US official tells Fox News.

🇺🇸⚡️- Jeffrey Epstein with a very young girl sitting on his lap.