Oryx (website)
{{Short description|OSINT defence analysis website}}
{{This|the investigative research website|3=Oryx (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox blog
| name = Oryx
| logo = Logo of Oryxspioenkop.png
| logo_caption = Logo of Oryx
| type = Investigative journalism
| language = {{hlist | English (primary) | Turkish | Japanese | Afrikaans }}
| founded = November 2013
| country_of_origin = Netherlands
| founder = Stijn Mitzer, Joost Oliemans
| url = [https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/ oryxspioenkop.com]
}}
Oryx, or Oryxspioenkop, is a Dutch open-source intelligence defence analysis website,{{cite news |last1=Peck |first1=Michael |title=Russia Is Exaggerating Ukraine's Military Losses |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelpeck/2022/04/05/russia-is-exaggerating-ukraines-military-losses/ |access-date=4 May 2022 |work=Forbes |date=5 April 2022}}{{Cite news |date=16 July 2024 |title=Russia’s vast stocks of Soviet-era weaponry are running out |url=https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/07/16/russias-vast-stocks-of-soviet-era-weaponry-are-running-out |access-date=2024-08-11 |work=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}} and warfare research group.{{cite news |last1=Malyasov |first1=Dylan |title=Russia loses dozens of unmanned aircraft in Ukraine |url=https://defence-blog.com/russia-loses-dozens-of-unmanned-aircraft-in-ukraine/ |access-date=4 May 2022 |agency=Defence Blog |date=14 April 2022}} According to Oryx, the term spionkop (Afrikaans for "spy hill") "refers to a place from where one can watch events unfold around the world".{{cite web |title=@oryxspioenkop on Twitter |url=https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop/status/1585370276380168192 |website=Twitter |access-date=26 October 2022 |date=26 Oct 2022}}
Oryx was created by Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans, who have also written two books on the Korean People's Army.{{cite news |last1=Taylor |first1=Adam |title=The Taliban is flaunting captured U.S. weapons that may be worth billions.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/20/us-weapons-taliban-afghanistan/ |access-date=4 May 2022 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=20 August 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Maddaluno |first1=Amedeo |title=Observing the battlefields of the world with "Oryx Blog" |url=https://osservatorioglobalizzazione.it/osservatorio/observing-the-main-battlefields-of-the-world-with-oryx-blog/ |website=osservatorioglobalizzazione.it/ |access-date=4 May 2022 |date=16 December 2020}} Both have previously worked for Netherlands-based Bellingcat.{{cite web |url=https://www.helion.co.uk/people/stijn-mitzer.php |title=Stijn Mitzer |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220508195116/https://www.helion.co.uk/people/stijn-mitzer.php |archive-date=2022-05-08}}{{cite web |url=https://www.helion.co.uk/people/joost-oliemans.php |title=Joost Oliemans |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220508194955/https://www.helion.co.uk/people/joost-oliemans.php |archive-date=2022-05-08}} Oliemans also worked for Janes Information Services, a British open-source military intelligence company. After Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans retired from the Oryx Blog, a long-time contributor Jakub Janovsky took over as the site administrator.{{cite web |title=@oryxspioenkop on Twitter |url=https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop |website=Twitter |access-date=7 November 2023 |date=7 November 2023}}
History
Oryx was started in 2013, and initially focused on Syria and later on the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.{{cite web |title=The Fight For Nagorno-Karabakh: Documenting Losses On The Sides Of Armenia And Azerbaijan |url=https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2020/09/the-fight-for-nagorno-karabakh.html |website=Oryx |access-date=12 August 2024}}
The blog gained international prominence through its work during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, counting and keeping track of material losses based on visual evidence and open-source intelligence from social media.{{cite web |last1=Wasielewski |first1=Philip |title=Appraising the War in Ukraine and Likely Outcomes |url=https://www.fpri.org/article/2022/04/appraising-the-war-in-ukraine-and-likely-outcomes/ |publisher=Foreign Policy Research Institute |access-date=4 May 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Lendon |first1=Brad |title=Russia's tanks in Ukraine have a 'jack-in-the-box' design flaw. And the West has known about it since the Gulf war |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/27/europe/russia-tanks-blown-turrets-intl-hnk-ml/index.html |access-date=4 May 2022 |publisher=CNN |date=29 April 2022}}{{cite news |title='Russia is failing in its war aims' in Ukraine: US |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/25/russia-is-failing-in-its-war-aims-in-ukraine-us |access-date=4 May 2022 |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=25 April 2022}} It has been regularly cited in major media, including Reuters,{{cite news |title=Fact Check-No evidence photo shows a Ukrainian soldier who 'blew up 52 Russian tanks' |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-russian-tanks-idUSL2N2WH20F |access-date=4 May 2022 |publisher=Reuters |date=19 April 2022|quote=Oryx, a closely watched military blog which tallies both sides' losses based on verifiable visual evidence}} BBC News,{{cite news |date=11 April 2022 |title=Ukraine conflict: Why is Russia losing so many tanks? |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-61021388}} The Guardian,{{cite news |last1=Sabbagh |first1=Dan |title=As Ukraine war enters new phase, can western arms turn the tide? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/06/as-ukraine-war-enters-new-phase-can-western-arms-turn-the-tide |access-date=4 May 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=6 April 2022}} The Economist,{{cite news |title=How Ukraine is winning the drone-jamming war |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2022/05/18/how-ukraine-is-winning-the-drone-jamming-war}} Newsweek,{{cite news |last1=Carbonaro |first1=Giulia |title=Russia Unable To Fight Another War After Catastrophic Military Losses |url=https://www.newsweek.com/russia-unable-fight-another-war-after-catastrophic-military-losses-1701469 |access-date=4 May 2022 |publisher=Newsweek |date=27 April 2022}}; {{cite news |last1=Carbonaro |first1=Giulia |title=Russia's Colossal Tank Losses in Ukraine Are Due to This Fatal Design Flaw |url=https://www.newsweek.com/russia-colossal-tank-losses-ukraine-are-due-this-fatal-design-flaw-1701802 |access-date=4 May 2022 |publisher=Newsweek |date=28 April 2022}}; {{cite news |last1=Cole |first1=Brendan |title=Russian Tanks Already Rusting in Ukraine, Photo Shows |url=https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-tank-destroyed-war-images-1695458 |access-date=4 May 2022 |publisher=Newsweek |date=6 April 2022}} CNN, and CBS News.{{cite news |title=Why Russia keeps losing so many armored vehicles in Ukraine: "It's finders keepers for these farmers" |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-russia-armored-vehicles-lost/ |access-date=4 May 2022 |publisher=CBS News |date=23 April 2022}} Forbes has called Oryx "the most reliable source in the conflict so far", calling its services "outstanding".{{cite news |last1=Hambling |first1=David |title=How Heavy Are Russian Losses, And What Does It Mean For Their Offensive? |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2022/04/26/how-heavy-are-russian-losses-and-what-does-it-mean-for-their-offensive/ |access-date=4 May 2022 |work=Forbes |date=26 April 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Axe |first1=David |title=The 'Ghost Of Kyiv,' Who Was Never Real, Just Got Killed In The Press |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2022/04/30/the-ghost-of-kyiv-who-was-never-real-just-got-killed-in-the-press/ |access-date=4 May 2022 |work=Forbes |date=30 April 2022}}{{cite web | url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2022/05/25/ukraine-is-knocking-increasing-numbers-of-russian-drones-out-of-the-sky/?sh=d8556d5635a7 | title=Ukraine is Knocking Increasing Numbers of Russian Drones Out of the Sky — with Help from Russian Corruption | website=Forbes }} Because it reports only visually confirmed losses, Forbes claimed that Oryx's tallies of equipment losses have formed absolute minimum baselines for loss estimates.
In June 2023, former General David Petraeus commended Oryx: "In this and age of open source media and intelligence, there is a website that actually tracks absolutely confirmed, verified destruction of, say, tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. (...) This is confirmed by photograph[s], with metadata, so that you make sure you don't double-count, etc."{{Cite news |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=236&v=L3qCYIPaPqU |title=General Petraeus: The spring offensive will be 'much more successful' than many think |author= |work=DW News |publisher= |date=6 June 2023 |access-date=7 June 2023 |language= }}
On 19 June 2023, Oryx announced that the blog would end on 1 October 2023. In the statement posted on Twitter, Oryx explained that the blog had been created a decade earlier "out of boredom", and that the project – which had been conducted "in our free time" and without any pay – had turned into an "all-consuming project" that had not resulted in any jobs and which "just doesn't make me happy anymore".{{Cite web |title=Oryx on Twitter: "The End of a Journey" |url=https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop/status/1670723829713215489 |access-date=19 June 2023}} In a follow-up statement, Oryx clarified that the list covering losses in Russia's invasion of Ukraine would continue to be updated until the end of the war by long-time contributor Jakub Janovsky and the open-source intelligence group WarSpotting.{{cite web |title=Oryx on Twitter: "Note: The Russian and Ukrainian losses lists..." |url=https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop/status/1670813480998297600 |website=twitter.com |publisher=Twitter |access-date=19 June 2023}}{{cite web |title=Jakub Janovsky on Twitter: "My plan beyond October..." |url=https://twitter.com/Rebel44CZ/status/1670739818131718145 |website=twitter.com |publisher=Twitter |access-date=19 June 2023}}