Yandex Added Forests To Its Maps To Hide Russian Military Facilities

• 17.08.2026, 13:12

Military experts point out that this makes no practical sense.

"Yandex" has added a forest to its maps in place of a military facility, as noted by the Finnish news outlet YLE. Copied sections of forest appeared on a satellite image of the area around Kronstadt, in a section where missile batteries are located.

The publication reports that this is a new method Yandex is using to conceal military facilities; previously, their images were blurred.

On foreign mapping services from Google, Apple, and Microsoft, the missile batteries near Kronstadt are visible in images taken before April 2026. They are not visible in more recent images. YLE speculates that the mobile missile systems were relocated for some reason.

Military expert Marco Eklund told the Finnish publication that “from an operational standpoint,” attempting to conceal a military facility behind copied forest fragments makes no sense. Ukrainian and Western military officials, he noted, rely on their own sources of information rather than on “Yandex” maps.

He also noted that Russian authorities may require that certain facilities be hidden from Yandex maps. Yandex had not responded to YLE’s request for comment as of the time of publication.