Ukraine's Minister for Foreign Affairs blasts Apple over Crimea changes

Apple Maps Crimea screenshot
Apple Maps Crimea screenshot (Image credit: BBC)

What you need to know

  • Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister has expressed his anger over Apple's decision to show Crimea and Sevastopol as Russian territories.
  • Vadym Prystaiko took to Twitter to criticize the move.
  • The change only affects users of iOS who live in Russia.

Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister has blasted Apple over its decision to show Crimea and Sevastopol as Russian territories in its iOS Maps and Weather apps.

Yesterday, November 27, it emerged that Apple had amended the regions of Crimea and Sevastopol, so that they appear as Russian territories when using Maps and Weather. The change only affects users living in Russia, similar to other previous regional changes Apple has made to iOS, for example, its decision to remove the flag of Taiwan from the emoji keyboard in Hong Kong and China.

The annexation of Crimea by Russia is an extremely controversial subject in the region. Russia's claim of ownership is not recognized by the majority of the international community, including the EU and the US. The conflict has killed more than 13,000 people.

Taking to Twitter in the wake of the news, Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister told Apple "global politics is not your strong side."

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He went on to say:

Phones are great products. Seriously, though, @Apple, please, please, stick to high-tech and entertainment. Global politics is not your strong side. #CrimeaIsUkraine

Apple had been in talks with Russia for several months over what the Russian government described as an "inaccuracy" in its maps. Apple had initially suggested it could label the territory as undefined, neither part of Russia or Ukraine. Now it seems Apple has complied with the Russian demands to label the territory (at least to Russian users) as part of Russia.

Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design.

Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9