Yandex.Maps removes borders between countries

Users of the Russian mapping service Yandex Maps noticed that the borders between all countries on the maps have disappeared. The service said that the company decided to focus on “physical-geographical“ sites instead of political ones, Durov Code reports.

At the same time, the service still displays the names of states and borders of regions.

“In the near future, the map will become more physical-geographical on scales where it is not used for its main purpose. The emphasis there will switch from country borders to natural objects. Our goal is to display the world around. Therefore, mountains, rivers, lines of the polar circles and other data which is specific to this type of map will appear on it,”

Yandex Maps press service says.

However, the users believe that the reason for the change is somewhat different.

Why it’s interesting

Yandex is a Russian company. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Yandex’s search, news, and other services have been reporting Russian propaganda, hiding reliable sources of information. As a result, Yandex co-founder Arkady Volozh was sanctioned by the EU, and immediately left the company.

Previously, some top managers also left Yandex. They expressed their disagreement with the company’s policy and opposed the war in Ukraine.