Western newspaper publishes map of Ukraine without Crimea peninsula

Since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, Western countries have consistently refused to recognize the annexation of Crimea into Russia. However, one of the leading Western newspapers, USA Today (USA), on February 10 published a map of Ukraine without the Crimean peninsula.

Cover of USA Today, February 10 issue. Photo taken from usatoday.com homepage

In the same day's issue, USA Today published on the front page a map of Ukraine without Crimea, the territory that was officially annexed by Russia after a vote in March 2014.

It is unclear whether the omission of Crimea from the map of Ukraine was a deliberate decision by USA Today's editorial board or an oversight, but USA Today's main competitors in the newspaper industry, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, have maintained that the peninsula on the Black Sea coast lies within Ukraine's borders, despite the fact that Russia controls the territory.

A USA Today spokesperson declined to comment on the matter when contacted.

To date, the United States, the European Union (EU) and a number of countries still do not recognize the annexation of Crimea into Russia.

In March 2014, the United Nations General Assembly also passed a non-binding resolution declaring the referendum on Crimea's secession from Ukraine illegal.

In October of the same year, the World Football Federation (FIFA) had to apologize after FIFA published a map of the 2014 World Cup that showed Crimea as part of Russian territory.

According to Vietnam+