Soviet Aide Admits Maps Were Faked for 50 Years

Sept. 3, 1988

The Soviet Union's chief cartographer acknowledged today that for the last 50 years the Soviet Union had deliberately falsified virtually all public maps of the country, misplacing rivers and streets, distorting boundaries and omitting geographical features, on orders of the secret police.

In an interview published tonight in the Government newspaper Izvestia, the chief map maker, Viktor R. Yashchenko, said the authorities had agreed to begin releasing accurate maps that have been classified as state secrets since the time of Stalin. Western experts said the maps apparently were distorted out of fear of aerial bombing or foreign intelligence operations.

As one example, American diplomats and correspondents based in Moscow find that the most reliable street map of Moscow is produced in the United States, by the Central Intelligence Agency.

The falsification of Soviet maps, Mr. Yashchenko told Izvestia, began in the late 1930's when the map-making administration was put under control of the security police, then known as the N.K.V.D.

''Even in the post-Stalin time the distortion of generally available maps continued as a requirement of the work of our administration,'' he said. ''This work became senseless with the appearance of space photography,'' which meant foreign countries could make their own extremely accurate maps from satellite data. ''But nevertheless it continued until this year,'' he said.

[–] Hikermick 1 points 1 month ago

Thanks for confirming!