Apple has come under fire in Ukraine with many users threatening to boycott the tech giant's products over its inclusion of Crimea as part of Russia on Apple Maps. The iPhone maker's decision to include Crimea as part of Russia after giving in to demands of the Russian government after months of negotiations over the depiction of Crimea, has upset Ukrainians.
Apple Maps originally labelled Crimea as being a part of Ukraine but Russia made official complaints and threatened criminal proceedings against the company for referring to the peninsula as anything other than Russian territory.
Russia's controversial annexation of Crimea from Ukraine
For those who aren't aware, Crimea is a large peninsula located on the north side of the Black Sea, which Russia military forces illegally seized control of in 2014 during political unrest in the territory over Crimea's status within Ukraine. The annexation by Russia led to international outrage and criticism from world leaders, resulting in the country's expulsion from the G8 summit. While the controversy surrounding these events is an ongoing one, it seems Apple has sided with Russia by buckling under pressure to the country's demands.
Ukrainians call for Boycott of Apple products
Apple's decision to show Crimea as part of has sparked outrage in Ukraine and netizens have taken to Twitter to express their anger, including some who have decided to boycott the company's products by using the hashtag #CrimeaIsUkraine. "I personally will get rid of my @Apple products," wrote one user. "@tim_cook gave in to Putin's demands and now has Crimea as part of Russia. I want to remind @tim_cook that Russia INVADED Crimes and has to date killed over 13,500 Ukrainians on their soil Screw him and Apple."
"So in 2014 Russia uses military force to invade the country of Ukraine and forcibly annex the Crimean Peninsula. 2019 and the fighting is still happening in Ukraine...AND APPLE CORP CHANGES THEIR ONLINE MAPS TO REFLECT CRIMEA AS A PART OF RUSSIA?! WTF? Time to boycott Apple!!," tweeted another user.
Check out some of the other tweets below:
Not impressed at all. Screw you apple. Half eaten rotten product. I’ve had apple products for the past decade nearly exclusively, however the declining quality, bad updates and now this!!! Time to change #crimeaisukraine #notrussia pic.twitter.com/g5PHcB1uE1
— JJ (@Atamansikka) November 27, 2019
