From multiple sources, it appears Russia is using outdated maps to navigate Ukraine. Soldiers in Chernobyl might not have known about red forest because their map was from 1985 (the Chernobyl incident happened in 1986). At least one of the soldiers at Chernobyl was unfamiliar with the fact that there even was an incident. Even their Google maps is outdated. Pictured below is one of these outdated maps.
