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In the past, http://poehali.org/maps/ offered a free-of-charge download of Soviet military topographic maps of many areas in the world. Those maps are in the public domain. Now, this site redirects to http://mapstor.com , a website offering a low-cost archived download of those maps, but not free-of-charge. http://www.topomapper.com/ allows for interactive looking at Soviet military maps, but only for parts of the world and only up to a scale of 1:100.000, even for areas mapped at 1:50.000.

Where can I download free-of-charge public domain Soviet military maps?

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4 Answers 4

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Enjoy http://maps.vlasenko.net/soviet-military-topographic-map/

Update: There seem to be some torrent cache's of http://poehali.org/maps/ search at your own risk.

Below are some websites with varying degrees of content and geographic coverage.

University of Georgia Libraries: http://www.libs.uga.edu/maproom/collections/soviet.html

MadMappers.com Africa specific: http://www.madmappers.com/mapset.php?MS=182 http://www.madmappers.com/mapset.php?MS=183

One more source that claims to be 80 GB of data compatible with OziExplorer http://www.afanas.ru/mapbase/help Use a translator to read the help if needed. If you browse to the source of the downloads you can browse the directory and grab what you need after entering the credentials listed in the help file.

EDIT (2015-07-21): For anyone wanting more background information on these maps, and how they became "de-classified", WIRED did a great write-up.

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  • Nice! I see this is mostly (but not exclusively) the former Soviet union and satellite states, which is the most relevant because it's where often no alternatives are available. But other answers are still welcome, too.
    – gerrit
    Mar 11, 2012 at 9:48
  • I can't vote this high enough. So sweeeeet.
    – Ragi Yaser Burhum
    Mar 12, 2012 at 6:29
  • Thanks Ragi! Okay this has been a bit addictive. These maps are just too cool. Since there seems to be a fair amount of interest here's one more source
    – Greg Barrett
    Mar 13, 2012 at 23:08
  • ... Beware, I have no idea if there are any IP restrictions with these data sets, I can't read Russian, but I did run across a thread regarding some disagreement whether it is okay to use these maps as a source for OSM. Oh, and sorry if my posts don't follow protocol, I'm new around these parts and learning as I go.
    – Greg Barrett
    Mar 13, 2012 at 23:15
  • The linked Wired article is a typical example of Wired-style BS directed at schoolchildren mostly. The "expert" on topomaps sees bridges marked with their consruction material and carrying capacity and decides that this is for "planning a tank invasion"? This is the moment you realize that this is the first time in his life this "expert" sees a real topomap :)
    – AnT stands with Russia
    Nov 23, 2017 at 17:09
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You can try Russia Topographic Maps. Can find there old soviet maps and new maps as well (2000-2010).

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  • This is great. You can also search on a Google map for the location you want (or by lat-long), and it will link you to easily downloadable .png files at various resolutions. These are not as good-looking as the ones on maps.vlasenko.net, but appear to be higher resolution and easier to get data from.
    – supergra
    Dec 8, 2017 at 20:57
  • vlasenkos maps are in JPG, yapl is in GIF, that should be a step forward; but they appear more pixelated
    – gerrit
    Jul 26, 2019 at 22:26
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At Indiana University we are digitizing our collection of Soviet topographic maps. No direct download, but you can click on "interactive view" to see detail. http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/images/splash.htm?scope=images/VAC9619

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Many thanks for the useful links to old Russian maps. I like these maps a lot and have been collecting them for quite awhile. I have been recently uploading my own personal raster map collection onto the internet for others to view.

Please feel free to share, link or even embed the following online maps onto your website embedding html code can be found under the map when viewing on the Gigapan.com site. The Gigapan iPad App is also a pretty good viewer. My complete Gigapan map collection is still being updated and current status be reviewed here:

  1. Soviet Military Maps: http://gigapan.com/galleries/10544/gigapans
  2. Maps (All sources): http//gigapan.com/groups/128

I hope you find the links to the maps above useful,

Enjoy!

Landmine Mapper

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