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 deep strikes on Ukraine; Saudi Arabia reports critical air-defense shortfall amid Yemen escalation
Russia conducted a coordinated massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine during the night of September 16-17, deploying hypersonic Kinzhal missiles and Iskander ballistic systems against Kyiv, alongside KN-23 variants targeting Zaporizhzhia. The operation involved an estimated 7,106 kamikaze drone sorties according to Ukrainian general staff reporting, representing sustained high-tempo offensive operations. Russian forces conducted 278 combat engagements on Day 1667 of the invasion with 106 airstrikes and 2,366 artillery strikes. Ukrainian air defense systems engaged incoming threats, with reported interceptions of Shahed-variant kamikaze drones transiting toward Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, though impact casualties were reported in Odesa and Zaporizhzhia.
Saudi Arabia reported critically depleted air-defense interceptor stocks on September 17, attributing the shortage to sustained Houthi attacks and requesting immediate resupply from France, Britain, Pakistan, and Egypt. The announcement reflects cumulative pressure from Yemen-based drone and missile operations against the kingdom's critical infrastructure. This disclosure, typically sensitive for strategic reasons, underscores the operational tempo and effectiveness of Houthi capabilities. The request for multinational support indicates Saudi Arabia's assessment that current inventories cannot sustain both defensive operations and strategic deterrence posture simultaneously.
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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