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Ukrainian Security Service officers detain Major General Valeriy Shaytanov on suspicion of high treason and terrorism in Kyiv on April 14.
Ukrainian Security Service officers detain Major General Valeriy Shaytanov on suspicion of high treason and terrorism in Kyiv on April 14.

Ukraine Live Blog: Zelenskiy's Challenges (Archive)

An archive of our recent live blogging of the crisis in Ukraine's east.

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And here's more on this story from the Crimea Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service:

Apple's Apps Show Ukraine's Crimea As Part Of Russia

Vasily Piskarev, the head of the Russian Duma's Committee on Security and Corruption Control, said Apple's move had brought the tech giant's services" in line with Russian law." (file photo)
Vasily Piskarev, the head of the Russian Duma's Committee on Security and Corruption Control, said Apple's move had brought the tech giant's services" in line with Russian law." (file photo)

KYIV -- Apple is showing Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula as being part of Russia on some of its apps, a move that lawmakers in Moscow hailed as correcting an earlier "error" by the U.S. technology giant but one that is sure to anger Kyiv.

However, the display of Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula as Russian territory on Apple Maps and Weather on November 27 appeared to occur only for users in Russia.

When using the apps from the United States, Ukraine, and in parts of Europe, no international borders are shown around the peninsula.

Russia took control of Crimea in March 2014 after sending in troops, seizing key facilities, and staging a referendum dismissed as illegal by at least 100 countries.

Moscow also backs separatists in a war against government forces that has killed more than 13,000 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.

Vasily Piskarev, who chairs the Russian State Duma’s Committee on Security and Corruption Control, welcomed Apple's move, saying: "They have brought [their services] in line with Russian law."

"The error with displaying Crimean cities on the weather app has been eliminated," Piskarev told reporters.

"With this action, the company has demonstrated a wish to preserve and develop its positions in the Russian market," according to Leonid Levin, head of the Duma Information Policy Committee.

California-based Apple and the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comments from RFE/RL.

It was not immediately clear when the decision was made to include Crimea as part of Russia on the apps.

The State Duma said in a statement that the change was made following a meeting between Piskarev and Apple's representative in Russia, Daria Yermolina.

Russia and Apple had been in talks over the past few months over the matter. The U.S. company initially attempted to show Crimea as undefined territory by removing any mention of Ukraine.

Earlier, the Russian Duma gave Apple a deadline of April 25, and then extended it until May 10 to "eliminate inaccuracies in displaying the geographical location of Crimea and Sevastopol in the application."

Competitor Google Maps has designated Crimea differently over the years depending on the user’s location, listing it as Russian for Russian users and Ukrainian for most others.

Piskarev in June said Google had complied with Moscow’s requirement that Crimea be designated to users of the Internet in Russia as Russian territory, forestalling plans to penalize the company for violating federal law.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service, AFP, AP, Reuters, BBC, and Interfax
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Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (click to enlarge):

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