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 — 2026-09-16

Red Sea escalation continues; Ukraine sustains deep strikes as Russia intensifies air campaign

Ukrainian forces conducted sustained deep-strike operations against Russian military infrastructure on September 16, striking targets across multiple occupied territories. Confirmed strikes included a Su-24 fighter-bomber at Saky airfield in Crimea, enemy drone storage and launch facilities in Donetsk city, an ammunition depot in Dovzhansky (Luhansk Oblast), and Grenadier reconnaissance posts in Crimea. Ukrainian special forces released footage confirming elimination of Russian Major General Anton Grunis, commander of the 4th Motor Rifle Brigade operating in the Bakhmut-Kostiantynivka sector. These operations reflect Ukraine's systematic targeting of Russian rear-area capabilities and high-value personnel, consistent with stated strategy of degrading Russian military capacity and striking oil infrastructure estimated to cost Moscow over $100 billion annually.

Houthi forces sustained multiple coordinated attacks against Saudi Arabian infrastructure on September 16, reportedly claiming strikes on Khamis Mushait air base, Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu, and pilot recovery operations. The Houthis also claimed downing a Saudi F-15 jet over Marib using a locally-made surface-to-air missile, though Saudi Arabia has not confirmed the loss and no photographic evidence has emerged. These escalations follow claimed Saudi airstrikes numbering over 450 during the preceding week. Separately, Houthi leadership reportedly conveyed to U.S. officials in Oman that they will target only Saudi vessels while exempting American, Israeli, and commercial shipping—a notable policy constraint marking continuation of a May 2025 ceasefire arrangement. Unconfirmed reports suggest Houthis have begun mining the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the critical Red Sea chokepoint affecting global maritime commerce.

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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