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RUSSIA-POLITICS-TECHNOLOGY-INTERNET-APPLE
Under pressure, Apple shows annexed Crimea as Russia on apps
MOSCOW, Nov 27, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US tech giant Apple has complied with
Moscow’s demands to show Crimea, annexed from Ukraine in 2014, as Russian
territory on its apps, lawmakers said Wednesday.
The Black Sea peninsula and its largest cities of Sevastopol and
Simferopol are now displayed as Russian territory on Apple’s maps and weather
apps when used in Russia.
Crimea does not appear to be part of any country when these apps are
used in France.
“Crimea and Sevastopol now appear on Apple devices as Russian
territory,” parliament’s lower house, the State Duma, said in a statement.
Russia treats the naval port city of Savastopol as a separate region.
Russia and Apple had been in talks over the last few months, with the US
giant initially trying to show Crimea as undefined territory and removing any
mention of Ukraine.
The State Duma released a statement following a meeting between Vasily
Piskaryov, chairman of State Duma security and anti-corruption committee, and
Apple’s Russia representative, Darya Yermolina.
In the statement, Piskaryov praised the US company, saying it had
complied with the Russian Constitution.
He said Russia was open for “dialogue and constructive cooperation with
foreign companies,” stressing however that Russian authorities would remain
vigilant.
Russian lawmakers will monitor “issues concerning the protection of the
Russian constitution and our country’s sovereignty from outside
interference,” Piskaryov added.
Apple did not immediately release a comment on Wednesday.
Another global tech giant, Google, does not identify Crimea as belonging
to either Russia or Ukraine on its maps.
It however uses the Russian, rather than Ukrainian, spelling of Crimean
place names on its maps in Russia, as well as drawing a line to show the de
facto border dividing Crimea from the rest of Ukraine.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 in a move condemned by most
of the global community. The seizure of the peninsula helped spark a
separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine that has claimed more than 13,000
lives so far.
BSS/AFP/RY/1948 hrs