Effective date: 2026-10-04
BattleBytes reports on armed conflicts from open information: news reporting, official statements, humanitarian data, satellite and sensor datasets, and footage published by people on the ground. These are the rules we work to.
Neutral mandate
- We name every party to a conflict, not just the one making news that day.
- Claims are labeled as claims and attributed to whoever made them: "Russia's defense ministry said", "the RSF claims", "Israel's military said". A claim stays a claim until it is confirmed independently.
- We do not decide who is right. Map colors are a legend for reading the map, not a verdict; where a conflict's framing is contested, every party is shown in the neutral color.
- We avoid loaded language. Formal designations (for example, a group designated a terrorist organization by a government) are reported as designations, with the designating body named.
- No sensationalism: no countdowns, no flashing alerts, no "breaking" banners on routine events, no speculation presented as news.
Verification tiers
Every reported event on our maps carries a confidence level from 1 to 3. The same tiers govern what we write.
- Tier 1 — single report. One outlet, one official statement or one first-hand account. Shown with a dotted ring and described as reported or claimed, never as fact.
- Tier 2 — two independent reports. Two outlets or observers that did not rely on each other (two outlets repeating the same wire story count as one). Shown with a dashed ring.
- Tier 3 — three or more independent reports, or visual geolocation. Three or more independent reports, or footage we or established open-information researchers have geolocated by matching it to satellite imagery, terrain or street-level features, with the time narrowed by shadows, weather or other markers. Shown with a solid ring.
A higher tier means the event very likely happened where and roughly when we say. It does not settle disputed details such as who fired, what was hit or how many people were harmed.
Claims versus confirmed
- Confirmed means Tier 3, or an acknowledgement by the party that would have reason to deny it.
- Reported means Tier 1 or Tier 2.
- Claimed means the statement comes only from a party to the conflict and has not been independently corroborated. Territorial gains announced by a military, casualty figures released by either side, and interception claims all start here.
Figures
Figures for people killed, injured or displaced are given with the name of the counting institution and the date of the count, and as a range where the institution gives one. Where no reputable current figure exists, we publish none rather than estimate our own.
Reader tips
Tips are welcome at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). Send a link to the original post or file if you have one, the place and time it shows, and how you came across it.
- A tip is a lead, not a report. Nothing from a tip is published until it meets the tier rules above through independent checking.
- We do not publish the identity of the person who sent a tip without their consent.
- Do not put yourself or anyone else at risk to send us something. We do not want material that reveals the current position of military units, and we will not publish it.
Graphic material
We embed footage when it adds information that text cannot: the location, type or scale of an event. We do not embed material whose main purpose is to show the dead or to humiliate captives. All embeds are click-to-load and carry a short description so you can decide whether to view them.
Corrections
When we get something wrong, we fix it and say so. Corrections to articles, maps or pins are made within 24 hours of our confirming the error, and each one is listed on the public Corrections page with the date, what was wrong and what changed. Minor fixes that do not change meaning (a typo, a broken link) are made without a log entry.
To report an error, email [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) with the page address and what is wrong.
Reference pages and updates
Conflict overviews, guides and the glossary are reference material, updated as situations change. Overviews use dated phrasing ("since February 2026", "as of early October 2026") so that what was true at the time of writing stays readable as such.
Independence
We are not affiliated with any government, armed force or armed group, and we do not accept payment for coverage. The Site currently carries no advertising and no affiliate links; see the Affiliate & Advertising Disclosure.