What is Intel Mapper

Intel Mapper is a live open-source-intelligence (OSINT) war map. It follows two theatres around the clock: the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the wider Middle East, from the Israel–Lebanon front and Syria to Yemen, the Red Sea and the Gulf. Every marker on the map is a single, dated event: a strike, a shoot-down, a ground assault, a naval incident, a capture, or a significant political statement, placed at the most precise location the sources support.

Events are gathered from monitored Telegram channels, X accounts, official military statements (for example the Ukrainian General Staff) and mapping projects such as DeepState and the Wikipedia conflict maps. Each report is read by a language model that extracts what happened, who did it, where and when, and then passed through a chain of deterministic checks: duplicate detection across channels, geocoding against our own settlement gazetteer and OpenStreetMap, country and region consistency guards, and frontline snapping for close-combat reports.

Every event carries a confidence score and a source count. One channel claiming a strike is not the same as three independent channels plus satellite-derived thermal detections, and the map shows that difference. Uncertain locations are drawn with an orange ring instead of a hard pin. Our methodology page explains the scoring in detail.

How to use the map

Switch theatres with the buttons at the top. The layer panel lets you toggle borders and control zones, event markers, the heat-map of activity, live military flights and US bases, and the Recent changes layers that hatch every area which changed hands in the last seven days (DeepState for Ukraine, Wikipedia-derived control maps for the Middle East). Click any marker for the full report, media and sources; click a control zone for its statistics. The time slider at the bottom replays borders and the previous 24 hours of events for any day since February 2026. A daily brief for each theatre is published every evening.

Coverage areas

Ukraine. The full contact line from Kharkiv to Kherson, deep-strike campaigns on Russian refineries, air bases and logistics, and Russian drone and missile waves against Ukrainian cities, with control changes taken from DeepState.

Middle East. The Israel–Lebanon front, Syria after Assad, the West Bank and Gaza, Iraq, and Iranian activity, including strikes on shipping and Gulf infrastructure.

Yemen and the Red Sea. The Houthi–Government war, Houthi attacks on shipping, coalition strikes, and control of the Bab al-Mandab approaches, using the Wikipedia control map and verified capture reports.

Today's brief — 2026-09-20

US-Iran tensions escalate amid B-1B deployments; Ukraine sustains refinery strikes and drone campaign

Ukrainian offensive infrastructure targeting demonstrated sustained capability against Russian rear areas. A confirmed Ukrainian drone strike struck the Kapotnya oil refinery near Moscow, igniting fires at the facility—a continuation of the systematic targeting of Russian energy and logistics infrastructure that has characterized the campaign since mid-2024. The strike underscores Ukrainian ability to project strikes deep into Russian territory despite air defense improvements. Simultaneously, Ukrainian forces released footage of FPV-kamikaze drone strikes against Russian air defense systems in Donetsk Oblast, and reportedly destroyed a fuel and ammunition depot in Belgorod Oblast, indicating diversified targeting across supply lines and active defense positions.

Strategic indicators of escalation in the U.S.-Iran confrontation intensified on 20 September. A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer departed RAF Fairford with full afterburners—a signal of immediate operational readiness and heavy weapons load—while President Trump departed Camp David early without public explanation, reportedly to review military options against Yemen. Simultaneously, Iran issued seven conditions via Qatar and threatened 'decisive war' if rejected, establishing explicit red lines for potential escalation. The timing and coordination of these moves suggest active contingency planning by both powers, though neither has committed to irreversible action.

Read the full Ukraine brief · Middle East brief · Archive

Latest reports

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• Tracking Houthi Strikes in the Red Sea: How Analysts Monitor Maritime Attacks
• The Israel–Lebanon Front: Geography, Actors and Understanding Strike Reports
• How Modern Air Defence Systems Work: Patriot, IRIS-T and NASAMS Explained
• Reading Confidence Scores: Making Sense of Intel Mapper's Reliability Ratings

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