Ukraine's representative to the UN issued a statement regarding a new map that excludes Crimea and the Kherson region

Ukraine abstained from voting on a new world map at the UN due to the inaccurate depiction of Crimea, the occupied Kherson region, and other annexed territories. Ukraine’s representative, Andriy Melnyk, stated that the proposed map violates the UN Charter and international law by legitimizing Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territories.

This is stated in Andriy Melnyk’s statement. 

He noted that Ukraine does not fundamentally object to the main issue raised in the draft resolution. In particular, Andriy Melnyk acknowledged the importance of accurate and scientifically sound cartographic representations, as well as the role of geospatial information in governance, sustainable development, education, and scientific research. However, he said, Ukraine cannot support the draft resolution in its current form due to a specific issue concerning the “Equal Earth” cartographic projection. These maps depict parts of Ukraine’s territory that were temporarily occupied by Russia as Russian.

“We regret that all our efforts to reach out to the authors of this draft resolution yesterday and this morning to find a compromise wording regarding OP8 were unsuccessful,” he noted.

According to Melnik, such a misinterpretation could open a Pandora’s box, effectively contributing to abuses and distortions of the political map of the world. He called on other delegations to take this issue seriously, express their concern about the dangerous uncertainty and ambiguity, and vote accordingly.

The Museum of Art and History in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, used interactive maps on which the temporarily occupied Crimea is marked as part of Russia. The maps are part of the exhibition “À la poursuite du temps” (“In Pursuit of Time”), dedicated to the local astronomical observatory and the development of science. Orientalist Mykhailo Yakubovych wrote about this on social media. The expert sent a letter to the museum’s administration. He called on the museum’s leadership to immediately correct the error in the exhibition, which will run until 2027.

Юлія Калабайда