Vozrozhdenie (rebirth), the large island in center of Aral Sea, was a Soviet germ warfare facility during the cold war era. At one time, we would not be viewing this photo because it was classified as militarily sensitive. Astronauts on early shuttle flights were told not to take any photographic images of that region.

Vozrozhdeniya Island, in more detail.

Images taken during the winter show that the sheet ice formation on the Aral Sea is so extensive that Vozrozhdenie is almost land-linked. There is a possibility that retreating waters could create a problem if the island became physically linked to the land and biological hazards were released into larger environment.