Apple Maps shows Crimea as Russia, but only for Russian users

When used within Russia, Apple’s Maps and Weather apps show Crimea as part of Russian territory.

But the apps do not show it as part of any country when viewed from other countries, including Ukraine.

According to TechCrunch, the company made such a decision under pressure from the Russian authorities. The website of the State Duma informs that this happened after the meeting of the Russian authorities with Daria Yermolina, representing the interests of Apple in Russia.

“Apple fulfilled its obligations and brought the applications on its devices in compliance with the requirements of the Russian legislation,” Russian authorities say.

Similarly, Google maps show the Crimean peninsula. In a comment to TechCrunch, the representative of Google stressed that the company tries to follow the requirements of local legislation.

The Ukrainian party has already officially reacted to this change:

To recap, the United States imposed the first sanctions against Russia for the occupation of Crimea in July 2014. Since then, they have been repeatedly expanded and extended. The last time it was for a year, until March 2020. U.S. companies are banned from doing business in Crimea, that’s why many services such as Visa and MasterCard are not working on the peninsula.