Yandex, also called Google in Russia, has made changes to its map service.
Yandex has changed the way its map service marks its borders. Adobe Stock / AOP
Yandex has begun to blur the borders of countries in its Yandex Maps service. The company itself has said that it “did not highlight national borders on its maps”, TechCrunch news.
Borders exist in principle, but in the case of Ukraine, for example, the borders are marked in the same way as the internal areas of Ukraine. The names of the countries are in place, but the borders do not differ at all, especially in the case of Ukraine.
No real reason has been given for removing the borders, but Yandex is thought to have avoided this by acting under pressure from the Kremlin as Russia is currently invading Ukraine and taking over its territories.
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Yandex itself has justified the change by saying that the company wants its maps to be “more locally oriented”.
– Yandex Maps is a universal service that helps people find businesses and places nearby, choose public transportation and plan nice routes, the company comments.
In addition, Yandex spoke confusingly that the service would change in the direction that the map service would not focus on national borders but rather on “natural sites”, as the company aims to “present the world around us”.
The EU recently appointed Yandex CEO and founding member Arkady Volozhin to the sanctions list. Volozh announced his resignation as CEO after being put on the sanctions list.