During a NASA live broadcast, Crimea was identified as Russian territory

<span><span><span><span><span><span>On August 12, during a live broadcast of the solar eclipse, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) drew a border on a map separating Crimea from Ukraine. As a result, the peninsula was shown as part of Russia.</span></span></span></span></span></span>

<span><span><span><span><span><span>This is visible in footage from NASA’s live broadcast.</span></span></span></span></span></span>

People watching the total solar eclipse saw the border line between Ukraine and Crimea. This sparked outrage. People began<span><span><span><span><span><span>asking NASA whether the agency had a problem with international law.</span></span></span></span></span></span>

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In the comments, the agency was also urged to update the map to show Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory.

NASA’s official materials on the eclipse describe the regions through which the total phase passed and do not contain any statements regarding changes to Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders.

<span><span><span><span><span><span>Crimea remains a territory of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia; Ukraine and the overwhelming majority of the world’s nations do not recognize the annexation of the peninsula in 2014. However, incidents occasionally occur involving publications in which the peninsula is depicted as Russian. In particular, in January 2023, the website of the European Rally Championship, organized by the International Automobile Federation, published a map on which Ukraine’s borders were depicted without Crimea. </span></span></span></span></span></span>

In 2023, the Hungarian government at the time released a video titled “Time for Peace,” calling for an immediate ceasefire against the backdrop of footage of the war in Ukraine. In that same video, the creators used a map in which Crimea—annexed by Russia—was excluded from Ukraine.

Earlier,Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom and former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, stated that the Ukrainian military had developed a plan for the remote isolation of the temporarily occupied Crimea as early as 2023. However, at that time, Western partners did not believe in its effectiveness.

Юлія Калабайда