The SSU investigators established that some of the Russian commanders who invaded Ukraine in February 2022 were guided by topographic maps from 1969.

This is evidenced by obtained Russian military documents.

Russian maps were seized in the temporarily occupied districts of the Kharkiv Region.

In particular, the information in the documents of the Russian motorized rifle battalion of the 138th Guards Separate Motor Rifle Brigade hasn’t been updated for at least 53 years.

On the maps of the invaders, the Saltivskyi residential development of Kharkiv city (aka Saltivka) is completely absent. Its first buildings were developed in the beginning of the 1970s.

The Traviansk and Murom water reservoirs, built in the 1970s, are also missing.

The state border between Ukraine and Russia is drawn with a ballpoint pen, since it was not on the maps at all.

Although the maps have modern registration numbers and even a seal of secrecy, on closer inspection 1969 can be seen as the manufacture date.

“We know that the Topographical Service of the Western Military District of the Russian Federation, headed by Colonel Oleksiy Krasnov, as well as the Center for Geospatial Information and Navigation of the Russian Federation, were engaged in the navigational support of the neutralized motorized rifle battalion in the Kharkiv Region,” the SSU said.

The 138th Guards Separate Motor Rifle Brigade of the Russian Federation, which used these maps, suffered losses at the end of March near the Kharkiv ring road in the Starosaltiv direction.

“On the eve of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, these units celebrated the 210th anniversary of the topographical service of Russia and declared that they provide the Russian military command with the most modern maps, made allegedly with the help of the latest mobile navigation and geodetic complexes,” the SSU added.

Previously, Saltivka suffered severe destruction due to constant artillery shelling by the Russian military.