Kathrine Frich
Satellite images of a cemetery near a key Russian naval hub have been partially obscured on a major online mapping service.
Analysts say the move may reflect sensitivities around military losses linked to the war in Ukraine.
Prepared plots
Yandex Maps, operated by Russia’s leading search engine, has blurred satellite views of a burial site located between Murmansk and Severomorsk.
The area lies about 250 metres from the Murmansk–Severomorsk road, beyond a checkpoint leading into a closed military town.
Unblurred images available on Google Earth show prepared plots that appear capable of accommodating thousands of graves.
Cemetery censored
According to reporting by the Barents Observer, up to 700 graves were identified at the site between the summer of 2022 and the summer of 2025.
Yandex Maps has obscured roughly 100,000 square metres of land near the headquarters of Russia’s Northern Fleet.
Other cemeteries in Murmansk Oblast do not appear to have been similarly restricted.
It is the first time the mapping service has limited public access to imagery of this cemetery. In the past, Yandex has blurred military facilities on the Kola Peninsula, including weapons depots, airbases such as Severomorsk-1, -2 and -3, Oleniya and Monchegorsk, as well as certain nuclear-related sites.
Casualty questions
The number of Russian military casualties remains disputed and cannot be independently verified.
The Kyiv Independent reported that Russia recruited 22,000 people in January and that 30,618 soldiers had died on the front.
Mediazona, an independent outlet, has documented 177,433 confirmed deaths as of mid-February.
Ukraine’s General Staff has estimated the “total number of casualties on the Russian side” at 1.2 million, including wounded personnel.
The Kremlin treats official casualty data as classified.
The initial blurring of the cemetery was flagged by a Ukrainian blogger known as Necro Mancer on X, formerly Twitter.
The Barents Observer reported that other burial sites in the region remain visible on Yandex Maps.
Analysts cited by the outlet said that “the Russians must be concerned about the losses they have suffered, but they mainly prefer to avoid admitting how many victims have fallen on the battlefield.”
Sources: Barents Observer, The Kyiv Independent, Mediazona, WP.
