"Mapping Militia Networks" with New America

TW: This episode contains a description of a murder and mutilation.

This week we spoke to the team at New America about their work tracking militia and private military groups online. Candace Rondeaux and Ben Dalton led us through their tips and techniques for tracing connections on Russian social media site VK and Telegram.

The talk was hosted by Charlotte Maher on Thursday September 11th 2025. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist.

Recorded live in the Bellingcat Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/bellingcat

Links discussed:

New America Future Frontlines: https://www.newamerica.org/future-frontlines/

Their Wagner project: https://www.newamerica.org/future-frontlines/uncovering-the-wagner-group/

And Proxy Warfare project: https://www.newamerica.org/future-security/future-proxy-warfare/

New America covering Hamdi Bouta's murder https://www.newamerica.org/future-security/reports/inquiry-murder-hamdi-bouta/introduction/

Our previous Stage Talk with All Eyes on Wagner: https://rss.com/podcasts/bellingcatstagetalk/2061764/

Coverage of the IDF's lavender programme: https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/