Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov provided his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib, visiting Moscow, with satellite images of the port of Beirut, captured immediately after the massive warehouse explosion that devastated the area on 4 August 2020

These images should make it possible to apprehend what really happened (1, 2 or 3 explosions? Ignited by fertilizers stored in the port or by explosives fired by planes?). The Lebanese investigation has yet to pinpoint the cause of the tragedy. So far, it has mainly honed in on the activities and reactions of senior officials in charge of the premises. It is regularly bogged down by “immunity” claims and attempts to remove the investigating judge. Furthermore, Hezbollah, which was accused a few years ago of assassinating Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, is unwilling to let the investigation go forward to prevent flimsy hypotheses from mushrooming.

Lebanese President General Michel Aoun initially turned to France to obtain these photos, but was ignored. An adviser to President Emmanuel Macron vowed to a Lebanese weekly that the French satellites were down that day.