MOSCOW, April 11. /ITAR-TASS/. Google Russian-language mapmakers have marked Crimea as part of Russia.
The world’s largest search engine has updated its mapping services maps.google.ru and maps.google.com, drawing a new state line between Crimea and Ukraine, while the border between Crimea and Russia has been eliminated.
Svetlana Anurova, a spokeswoman for Google’s office in Russia, confirmed these changes to ITAR-TASS. “Google mapmakers are doing everything possible to offer objective maps of disputed areas. In relevant cases, disputed borders have special markings,” she said. “In countries where we have localized versions, we follow the local laws with respect to borders and geographic names.”
In earlier reports from ITAR-TASS, Russia’s largest search engine, Yandex, mapping more than 1,300 towns and cities in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus, has already updated its mapping tools to designate Crimea as part of Russia. Starting from March 24, towns and cities on the peninsula had been marked as belonging to Russia. At the same time, Yandex users from Ukraine and Turkey would see the Black Sea peninsula as Ukrainian territory.
Russia’s biggest Internet company, Mail.ru Group, was reported as being one of the first sites to change Crimea to part of Russia on March 21, the day President Vladimir Putin signed the agreement on accession of Crimea and Sevastopol to the Russian Federation.
Source: ITAR – TASS News Agency
