No, Google Maps has not increased the image resolution of military bases in Russia

It is known that Google Maps opens access to Russian military and strategic objects appeared on social media over the weekend. They wrote about it, inter alia accounts dealing with white intelligence and covering the war in Ukraine on a daily basis.

This information was replicated by many media, including Gazeta.pl. However, it turned out that the message was false.

Military objects in some countries () are blurred or shown in low resolution, making it impossible to see exactly what is there.

Many photos of Russian bases clearly visible on Google Maps have been published on the web. However, they were visible the same before.

On the official Google Maps profile it was written that “no changes have been made to the blurring of satellite images from Russia”.

The war in Ukraine. Google’s decisions

At the end of February, Google blocked the mobile application of the Russian TV station Russia Today in Ukraine. This was done at the request of the government in Kiev. Russia Today is the Russian government’s propaganda channel.

In turn, in March, the Google News website and mobile application were blocked in Russia. Roskomnadzor, an institution dealing with media control, concluded that false information about events in Ukraine was disseminated on blocked websites. The Kremlin calls the Russian invasion of Ukraine “a special military operation”.

YouTube, linked to Google, has been blocking accounts linked to Russian state media since March. The company decided that the materials related to the war in Ukraine posted on the website will be covered by anti-violence regulations. The website also blocked Russian channels in Europe: RT – formerly Russia Today – and Sputnik. In addition, the company blocked the possibility of earning money from advertising in Russia.

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