Google Pressed To Change Crimea in Google Maps by Ukrainian First Lady

Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska in a recent meeting urged Google executives to show Crimea as part of Ukraine, not Russia, in Google Maps to all users.

Since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Google has shown the territory belonging to Ukraine to Ukrainian users — while showing it within Russian borders to Russian users. For other countries, Google has opted to display Crimea as separate from both Ukraine and Russia.

The discrepancy is a unresolved "fundamental issue," Zelenska said while meeting with two Google vice presidents, according to a statement from her office, emphasizing that Google should "ensure that when people look at Ukraine on a map, they see the whole country, including Crimea.”

Google has found its Maps feature caught in the middle of geopolitics before, and with a billion users and a near-monopoly on its market, the maps are a significant marker of how the world views itself.

Ukranian First Lady Olena Zelenska at the 18th meeting of the Yalta European Strategy meeting in September. Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

With Kashmir, for instance, Google shows the disputed area as part of India to Indian users while placing a dotted line around it for users in other countries, a recognition that Pakistan also lays claim to Kashmir. And in North Africa, Google must strike the same delicate balance over Western Sahara, a region that Morocco took over in 1975. Morocco users see it as part of their country; elsewhere, users see a dotted line and "Western Sahara" labeled.

In an even more recent development, Japan on Friday asked Google to modify its maps to identify the Senkaku Islands as part of Japan. They're also claimed by China and Taiwan, and Google has been including the islands' names in Chinese and Taiwanese.

With Crimea, Google isn't the only company to struggle with the peninsula's identity. In 2019, Apple changed its maps feature to include Crimea as part of Russia after Russian officials insisted that labeling it as part of any other country was illegal. While Apple continues to show Crimea as part of Russia to Russians users, it began to display Crimea as part of Ukraine to users around the world after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.