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 — 2026-09-17
Russia sustains massive coordinated strike on Ukraine; Trump signals Iran policy shift amid Gulf arms deals
Russia executed a coordinated massive missile and drone assault on Ukraine during the night of September 16–17, deploying 157 Shahed drones (124 of reactive-engine variant), four Kalibr cruise missiles, and ballistic systems including Iskander and S-400 platforms. Ukrainian air defenses engaged the strike package across multiple oblasts including Kyiv, with reactive-engine Shahed variants proving particularly challenging to intercept. The attack pattern reflects Russian persistence in attrition warfare against civilian and military infrastructure despite ongoing supply constraints. Ukrainian air defense systems, including newly tested anti-drone interceptors, achieved confirmed shootdowns of jet-propelled Shahed variants, with General Staff announcing plans to scale production of these indigenous systems.
The Trump administration signaled a major policy decision pending on Iran, with reports indicating consideration of either military action to 'annihilate' the Iranian regime or an alternative diplomatic approach. The administration plans to convene a UN General Assembly meeting with six Gulf state leaders, suggesting a coordinated regional strategy. Simultaneously, the U.S. State Department approved a Foreign Military Sale to Saudi Arabia valued at $24.3 billion for 48 F-35 fighter jets—the kingdom's first F-35 acquisition. These developments indicate a recalibration of U.S. Middle East strategy centered on strengthening Gulf partnerships while addressing the Iran question, though specific policy parameters remain undefined.
Read the full Ukraine brief · Middle East brief · Archive
Latest reports
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- The Israel–Lebanon Front: Geography, Actors and Understanding Strike Reports
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- Reading Confidence Scores: Making Sense of Intel Mapper's Reliability Ratings
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