It was the start of spring 2016, the Syrian war was as intense as ever and the Syrian regime, ISIS, rebel groups but also the US and Russian military were all still actively involved in the complex conflict. In the vast desert, rebel positions were often hard to locate. Sometime however, you just have to let the internet do its magic. This is the story of how 4chan forum members came together to locate a rebel base in Syria and coordinated an airstrike with the Russian military.
The story starts on may 30th 2016 when a user shared a YouTube video of a rebel training camp in northern Hama in Syria. The user called upon /sg/ to help find the exact location of the base in the video. /sg/ refers to Syria General, a 4chan board discussing many topics about Syria.
Quickly after the original post, many 4chan members joined the search and uncovered very detailed information about the site. The first thing that they pointed out were the power lines visible in the distance. After some research they estimated the size of the structures so that they could get a sense of distance. One user provided a blue print with detailed measurements which gave the members a good base to start searching with.
After scouting out other structures in the video, comparing structures and their respective distances in Google Earth and the video, they eventually found a location that had the be the rebel base.
So, you found a video on Youtube featuring a rebel base in Syria. You share the video on a forum and collectively you find the exact location (35°25’53.9″N 36°36’45.6″E). What now? Now you could reach out to your connection who has its own connections in the command of the Russian Ministry of Defence.
At the end of the day, another user who helped in the search shares screenshots that he shared their findings with a twitter user names Ivan Sidorenko. They refer to him as a friend of Russia’s Ministry of Defence who can call in air strikes. The short exchange between the users can be seen below.
Who Ivan Sidorenko is exactly is still a mystery as it seems to believe an alias. Ivan Sidorenko is also the name of a Russian war hero from world war 2. The twitter account that Ivan Sidorenko used at the time has since been removed.
To the surprise of the 4chan members, It did not take long for Ivan Sidorenko to share the information with the command of the Russian military in Syria. Just hours after Sidorenko shared his findings with the officials, Russian forces conducted an airstrike on the exact positions shared by the 4chan members. Footage of the strike can be seen in the original video below, filmed only the morning after the original 4chan post was shared.
Although a crazy story on it’s own, it was not the first time that 4chan and Ivan Sidorenko called the shots. In the month before this story. Ivan and 4chan were responsible for two other air strikes in Syria according to user reports.