OSINT Tip 1: Researching VK (Russia's Version of Facebook)

If you don’t have a profile on VKontakte, aka VK (Russia’s version of Facebook), getting on the platform can be challenging, specifically because a Russian phone number is required for an account. And while you can buy Russian numbers on the internet, it really isn’t advisable to do so.

So what can you do instead? There is a tool called Kribrum.io., where you can type in a keyword and see recent information on VK using the tool.

In the screenshot below, I typed in the Cyrillic text for Moscow in Kribrum, which provided 111,000 records for the week.

It doesn’t mean you’re getting full access to VK, either. But this tool can be helpful when you’re searching for something specific regarding your Russia research.

Keep in mind that this is a Russian website run by a Russian company, so make sure you’re using a VPN and your virtual machine.