Russia orders Yandex Maps to blur military and strategic sites near Estonia's border
About a year ago, large blurry patches appeared in Russia's Yandex Maps application. In the western part of the country alone there were 120 of them.
Eesti Ekspress, together with Norway's NRK and Sweden's SVT, investigated what Russia wants to hide. Blurred, for example, are the entire area of the Pskov airfield, the Olenya airfield in Murmansk oblast, the Kirishi oil refinery in Leningrad oblast, various research institutions, and radar and air‑defense points across Russia.
"The selection of blurred areas reflects the current capabilities of Ukrainian drone attacks," notes Estonian security expert Rainer Saks.
Looking at the images, Saks concludes that these are largely places that are even worth attacking with drones. Since drones are fairly small aircraft that must travel long distances, the explosive payload they can carry is quite limited.
"It stands out that these are not only military objects but also critical infrastructure," says Villiko Nurmoja, founder of the defense‑industry company SensusQ and a long‑time military intelligence professional.
"Clearly, the aim is to protect themselves from becoming targets for Ukrainians, as these objects are important to the state and are considered specific targets, and a separate question is whether some objects have been placed there deliberately for deception."
Estonian retired Major General Riho Ühtegi notes that hiding critical infrastructure is nothing new for Russia, since the same was done already in Soviet times, when large white patches appeared on public maps around military units and major factories.
"But even then satellites already existed, and it was known that the enemy had eyes in the sky that could not be evaded. Therefore things were hidden from their own citizens — to complicate possible espionage and sabotage," Ühtegi tells Eesti Ekspress.
Similarly, Ukrainians now have access to detailed Western satellite images as well as their own and allies' intelligence information, so they do not even need Yandex images.
Confusing choices for blurring
Norwegian NRK notes that there are many apparent contradictions among the 120 blurs.
"Multiple sources comment that it is hard to see any logic behind the way the locations are selected. For instance, some nuclear power plants are blurred, but not all of them. Also, some refineries, some naval bases, and some radar installations are blurred — but many are not."
In another place, the map blur does not cover an actual nuclear site but covers the related support facilities.
This blur is on the east coast of Lake Valdai and hides there the favorite resort of Putin and his two sons, according to reports, adds NRK. In comparison, the Google Maps app shows the same area with much clearer resolution.
In Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, next to Lithuania, there is a base station for the Russian satellite navigation system. It is completely blurred on Yandex maps but clearly visible on Google.
Pixelating online maps a relatively new phenomenon
Yandex Maps began blurring images inside Russia relatively recently: back in 2018, there was not a single blurred area, writes Sweden's SVT. "On December 24, 2024, a court in Moscow ruled that Yandex must mask the Ryazan oil refinery after it was attacked several times by Ukraine."
Intelligence officials from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland believe that the expansion of Russian bases and the reinforcement of troops along the borders with Northern Europe and the Baltic could drag NATO and the Russian Federation into a dangerous confrontation, SVT adds.
"According to sources in the Danish intelligence services, these actions may indicate preparations for a potential large‑scale conflict with European states in the Baltic Sea region. [---] The sources emphasize that Russia has not yet made any confirmed decisions regarding aggression, but preparatory processes are already underway."
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Editor: Argo Ideon
Source: Eesti Ekspress, NRK, SVT
