Yandex, the “Russian Google”, removes national borders from its Maps app
National borders between countries are now displayed as those between regions of the same state
It is a change that did not fail to react in the midst of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Since this Thursday, Yandex Maps, the “Russian Google” has decided to no longer display national borders on its maps. These thus appear as those between different regions of the same country, report our colleagues from TF1.
The disappearance of borders on the maps of Yandex Maps is valid for Russia but also for the rest of the planet. It is only by zooming in that it is possible to see the borders, but they merge into the demarcations between the different regions of the States. This change to the basemaps sparked many reactions, some imagined that Yandex Maps wanted to avoid being forced to redraw the borders as Russia advanced into Ukraine.
“Our task is to show the world around”
For its part, the search engine explained that it was a question of moving towards “local use” with a “universal service”. The goal: “Help users find nearby organizations and places, choose public transportation, and plan routes,” he told the New York Times.
The company has also indicated that other changes are coming soon. “Our task is to display the world around. Therefore, mountains, rivers, lines of the polar circles and other data specific to this type of map will appear on the map,” concluded Yandex Maps.
