A bottle, birch trees, and the video story of the Zvezda TV channel. How to find a Russian “droneport”? GEOINT case

What is the video from the Zvezda propaganda TV channel about?

To identify the location, GEOINT experts analyzed the propaganda video “Military Reception” from the Zvezda TV channel. In brief, it is a 40-minute video about the expansion of the “people’s defense industry” and the cooperation of “initiative” Russians with the Russian state in the context of their involvement in the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In the video, to epic musical accompaniment, the propagandist talks about “probably the most effective drone of the SMO (“special military operation” [editor’s note: full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine]) — Geran (Shahed)”. The film crew visited the enterprise where these drones are manufactured. The faces of the enterprise’s employees are blurred, but on their clothes is the inscription “Alabuga”, which the propagandist then additionally mentions. In addition to the fact that many young people work at the factory, the Molfar Intelligence Institute has previously investigated this topic.

Timur Shagivaleev (Russian — Тимур Шагивалеев), who is referred to as the general director of the Alabuga SEZ (special economic zone) in the video, pathetically quotes Zhukov and mentions the release of 9,000 drones, without specifying the time period over which they were produced.

Screenshot from the video

“Kurchatov, Koroliov, and Stalin live in your DNA.”  — this is how young workers are reminded that they contain a piece of DNA from great ancestors: Igor Kurchatov, the author of the nuclear project; Serhii Koroliov, who implemented the idea of human space flight (Serhii Koroliov is a Ukrainian, a native of Zhytomyr, lived in Nizhyn, Kyiv, Odesa; a prisoner of Stalin’s camps), and an extremely effective manager, head of state — Joseph Stalin, who not only led the country to victory, but also restored it after the war,” reads the voice-over text of the Zvezda TV channel propagandist.

And recently, a video appeared on the Internet showing how the Shaheds are launched. It seems that this is another part of the cycle of Zvezda propaganda video.

Screenshot from the video.

In this story, the Russians refer to this testing site as “Big Droneport” and then move to the “Small Droneport.” It was its location that GEOINT experts from the Molfar Intelligence Institute identified during the investigation.

Despite all the propaganda in the video, it still becomes clear from it that tests of UAVs of Russian developers are taking place on the territory of the “small — experimental droneport”, so that these drones can be used by Russians in military operations on Ukrainian territory, particularly against civilians.

The propagandist of Zvezda notes that even high-level persons come to the small “droneport”: the deputy chief of the general staff, the leadership of the Airborne Forces (Russian — ВДВ), and the heads of ministerial research institutes. And at the end of 2024, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Andrey Belousov (Russian — Андрей Белоусов) and his deputy for armaments, Alexey Krivoruchko (Russian — Алексей Криворучко), came.

How did analysts find the location? Step-by-step algorithm

The video is partially blurred to conceal details that could aid in quickly identifying the location. However, the video filmed large stands of birch trees, which are typical for the central and northern regions of the Russian Federation.

That is, this information helped to weed out guesses. However, to establish the exact location, you need to look for more details. And here, the bottle of water will be beneficial.

In one of the scenes in the video, you can see that a bottle of mineral water is attached to the test UAV as an example of cargo.

Upon closer examination, we see the label of the Senezhskaya mineral water company. According to information published on the company’s official website, the water is produced and most actively sold in the Moscow region and Moscow.

A screenshot of the official website of the Moscow mineral water company Senezhskaya, whose product catalogue, shows the same bottle of water that was attached to the UAV in the Zvezda TV channel video.

Information that the production is located in the Moscow region.

The company’s offices are located in 13 different regions of the Russian Federation, including the Rostov and Krasnodar regions — from there, Shahed/Geran are regularly launched across Ukraine. Large birch plantations do not characterize these regions. And it is difficult to say with 100% certainty that the “small droneport” is in the Moscow region. Perhaps the Zvezda journalists brought their own bottle?

However, the essence of GEOINT analysis is, in particular, to check hypotheses and guesses, to find information that will either refute or confirm them. Therefore, MII analysts sought further evidence, beginning to analyze the hypothesis that it was indeed located somewhere in the Moscow region.

Experts analyzed regional media publications, as well as satellite images of the Moscow region. We found an article from July 16, 2024, which included footage of the UAV testing range.

This is the same range as the story “Military Acceptance” by the Zvezda TV company. Satellite images helped narrow down the search even further — presumably, this is in the Moscow region.

Screenshots from the video from 07/16/2024 from the analyzed regional media and the video from Zvezda TV channel from 07/20/2025. The filming was at the exact location. Although the objects are blurred in the 2025 video, last year’s video clearly shows two semicircular hangar rooms adjacent to buildings and a model of a Mi-8 helicopter.

We are examining a satellite image from May 28, 2025, shows a military training ground, along with objects that appeared in videos dated July 16, 2024, and July 20, 2025. The same two semicircular hangar rooms, buildings nearby, and a model of a Mi-8 helicopter.

At this point, we already have an understanding of where the “small experimental droneport” is located. But more evidence is needed.

Screenshot from the video from 07/20/2025. The propagandist and his interlocutor are next to a building with a gable roof and two entrance gates (1), and in the background are two semicircular hangar rooms (2).

Returning to the satellite photo from Google Earth Pro for 2019, we see coincidences in the locations of the objects from the video: a building with a gable roof and two entrance gates (1) and two semicircular hangar rooms (2).

To finally verify the accuracy of the location identification, we return to the video from Life.ru media for 2024. We see a parade ground (1), paved with slabs, and vegetation in the middle. We also notice a path with stairs from the parade ground, leading towards the landfill (2). And again — two semicircular hangar rooms and buildings located nearby (3), as well as a model of a Mi-8 helicopter (4).

Screenshot from a video from 07/16/2024 showing the identified objects at the location

All of this is confirmed by a satellite photo taken on May 28, 2025.

The following objects were recorded: 1 — a paved parade ground with vegetation in the middle, 2 — a path with stairs from the parade ground towards the training ground, 3 — two semicircular hangar rooms and buildings located nearby, 4 — a model of a Mi-8 helicopter.

So, analyzing satellite images, videos from the Zvezda TV channel and other media, information about the production and distribution area of ​​the Senezhskaya water, birch groves filmed on video, and summarizing this GEOINT analysis, the “small experimental droneport” is the Kubinka military training ground (coordinates: 55.56112427694919, 36.73133861666099).

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GEOINT is a complex process in which you need to be extremely careful, use several analytical methods at once, and carefully check each hypothesis. Often, you can’t even guess which small detail might help narrow your search.”

“Discover the tenderness of nature with Senezhskaya, the mineral water company’s website says. We sure did, uncovering the secret location of the very secret “small experimental droneport” in Kubinka. All thanks to Senezhskaya water.