Previously, the Russians used to blur military facilities on maps, but now they’re overlaying parts of other images on them
Kronstadt (Illustrative photo: occupiers’ website)
Yandex, a popular service in Russia, is attempting to hide a missile battery located near Finland on its maps using image-editing software. This was reported by ,, Yle., and
Whereas Russians used to blur such objects on maps, they now overlay them with parts of other images, such as forests. In this way, they are attempting to completely conceal the existence of such an object. Specifically, this refers to a missile battery located near the Kronstadt naval port, not far from St. Petersburg.
At the same time, the same battery is visible on maps from Western online services, including Google, Apple, and Microsoft:.
Russian missile base (Photo: Planet Labs PBC)
Russian missile base as processed by Yandex (Screenshot from the Yandex map)
Russia is likely hiding these targets due to attacks by Ukrainian drones. However, military expert and former Finnish military intelligence officer Marko Eklund emphasized that Yandex’s “secrecy” makes no sense for Russia.
“From an operational standpoint, this seems quite absurd, since Western or Ukrainian intelligence agencies don’t rely on Yandex imagery, but on their own,” said Eklund.
According to him, the Russians’ photo manipulation stems from an administrative decision prohibiting the publication of photos from certain websites. Furthermore, in the opinion of the former intelligence officer, the image editing in the Kronstadt case was done carelessly.
“If you know what you’re looking for, you’ll notice it right away,” said Eklund.
Russia is trying by every means possible to protect its military facilities from Ukrainian long-range strikes, but it rarely succeeds. This summer, Ukraine strengthened its long-range strike capability against the enemy in order to force the Kremlin to the negotiating table.
Yandex has previously blurred areas visible in satellite images that Russia considers sensitive. Specifically, this includes military facilities and the vicinity of dictator Vladimir Putin’s estate in Valdai.
In 2024, a Russian court ordered Yandex to blur satellite images of the Ryazan Oil Refinery as well, due to drone strikes. In total, researchers discovered 119 blurred objects in western Russia last spring.
According to media reports, the area near Kronstadt—which Yandex has now obscured—previously housed “Bastion” anti-ship missiles and related radar and electronic reconnaissance systems.
- The Kronstadt area has been targeted by the Ukrainian Defense Forces on multiple occasions. In particular, on June 3, Russian journalist Nevzorov reported that four ships of the Baltic Fleet.
- had been hit in the port of Kronstadt . In early July, Ukraine launched a new strike on the main base of the Leningrad Naval-Naval Base of the Russian Federation’s Baltic Fleet, “Kronstadt”.
This is a machine translation of the original article in Ukrainian. It may contain errors.