Crimea Is Ukraine — Digital Sovereignty Audit

Layer	Legal Basis → Ukraine	Operational → Russia
IP Geolocation	MaxMind, GeoNames (UA)	Post-2014 RU ISPs → RU
CDN Routing	Cloudflare: UA-43 (~20% of web)	—
Geocoding	OSM Nominatim: all cities UA	—
DNS / TLD	.crimea.ua active	.crimea.ru doesn’t exist
Timezones	zone.tab: UA only	zone1970.tab: RU,UA; UTC+3
Phone Numbers	—	libphonenumber: +7-365/978 = RU
Postal Codes	—	Russian Post: 295xxx = RU

All Findings (180)

Data Visualization Libraries (18)

Status	Platform	Detail
✅	Highcharts Maps (Russia map)	Russia map excludes Crimea/Sevastopol regions.
✅	Highcharts Maps (Ukraine map)	Ukraine map includes Crimea/Sevastopol regions.
✅	GeoPandas (naturalearth_lowres)	Was incorrect until v0.12.2 (2022). GitHub issue #2382 reported Crimea shown as Russian. PR #2670 fixed it. Datasets module deprecated and removed in v1.0 (2024). ~15M monthly PyPI downloads. Legacy versions still propagate error.
❌	D3 world-atlas (110m)	Uses Natural Earth 110m as source. Since NE assigns Crimea to Russia's polygon, D3 world-atlas inherits this. Standard package for D3.js choropleth maps.
❌	D3 world-atlas (50m)	Uses Natural Earth 50m as source. Since NE assigns Crimea to Russia's polygon, D3 world-atlas inherits this. Standard package for D3.js choropleth maps.
❌	Cartopy (SciTools)	Downloads Natural Earth at runtime. Default 1:110m scale assigns Crimea to Russia. No POV option exposed. Used in climate science, meteorology, earth sciences. ~2-3M monthly PyPI downloads. No issue filed yet.
❌	rnaturalearth (R package)	Issue #116 requested fix — maintainer refused: 'We do not modify the underlying data.' Issue #27 similarly declined. Users must manually modify geometries with sf package. 50-100K monthly CRAN downloads.
❌	spData (R, 'Geocomputation with R')	Issue #50 'Improper map of Ukraine' — Crimea shown as Russian. Sourced from rnaturalearth. Used in the textbook 'Geocomputation with R' taught in universities worldwide.
⚠️	Plotly	GitHub issue #2903 (Crimea shown as Russia in choropleth): state=closed. Plotly inherits Natural Earth de facto boundaries. Default choropleth maps show Crimea as part of Russia.
⚠️	npm: world-atlas (dependents)	D3 world-atlas (TopoJSON country boundaries). 80,198 weekly npm downloads. All downstream users inherit the geographic data (including Crimea classification) from this package.
⚠️	npm: topojson-client (dependents)	TopoJSON client (decodes NE-based data). 3,814,090 weekly npm downloads. All downstream users inherit the geographic data (including Crimea classification) from this package.
⚠️	npm: plotly.js (dependents)	Plotly.js (built-in NE choropleth maps). 964,646 weekly npm downloads. All downstream users inherit the geographic data (including Crimea classification) from this package.
⚠️	npm: highcharts (dependents)	Highcharts (includes map collection). 2,269,785 weekly npm downloads. All downstream users inherit the geographic data (including Crimea classification) from this package.
⚠️	npm: echarts (dependents)	Apache ECharts (built-in map data). 2,322,682 weekly npm downloads. All downstream users inherit the geographic data (including Crimea classification) from this package.
⚠️	npm: d3-geo (dependents)	D3 geo projection (renders NE-sourced maps). 13,448,446 weekly npm downloads. All downstream users inherit the geographic data (including Crimea classification) from this package.
⚠️	npm: leaflet (dependents)	Leaflet (tile-based, but commonly used with NE data). 4,203,074 weekly npm downloads. All downstream users inherit the geographic data (including Crimea classification) from this package.
⚠️	Apache ECharts (world map, deep)	World.json: Both Russia AND Ukraine polygons contain coordinates near 34.x longitude (Crimea region). Possible overlapping geometry. ECharts is Chinese-origin (Baidu/Apache); China abstained on UNGA 68/262. 2.3M weekly npm downloads.
➖	Apache ECharts (world map)	Crimea classified as: not_mentioned. ECharts is Apache's data viz library, widely used in China and globally.

Open Source Geographic Data (13)

Status	Platform	Detail
✅	mledoze/countries (GitHub, 6.2K stars)	CORRECTED: Direct GeoJSON verification — Crimea IN Ukraine polygon (358 points), EXCLUDED from Russia. Uses thematicmapping.org, NOT Natural Earth. Breaks the NE propagation chain.
❌	Natural Earth (disputed areas layer)	Crimea explicitly classified: SOVEREIGNT=Russia, SOV_A3=RUS. Note: 'Admin. by Russia; Claimed by Ukraine'. Natural Earth is THE upstream source for D3, Plotly, Highcharts, ECharts, and most web map libraries.
❌	Natural Earth (50m countries)	Russia's 50m polygon CONTAINS Crimea coordinates (34.1E, 44.9N). Ukraine's polygon does NOT. Every library using this resolution inherits this.
❌	Natural Earth (110m countries)	Russia's 110m polygon CONTAINS Crimea coordinates (34.1E, 44.9N). Ukraine's polygon does NOT. Every library using this resolution inherits this.
❌	Natural Earth Propagation (aggregate)	Natural Earth's Crimea=Russia propagates to: 30,403,325 weekly npm downloads, 1,215,492 monthly PyPI downloads, 4,202 dependent repositories, 17,971 dependent packages. Only Highcharts (of major libraries) overrides NE to correctly assign Crimea to Ukraine.
❌	iso3166-2-db (esosedi/3166)	Default mode includes Crimea as part of Russia. Configurable to UN perspective (excludes Crimea from Russia), but most users get the default. ~10K weekly npm downloads.
❌	mledoze/countries (area analysis)	Russia area listed as 17,098,242 km² — approximately 23,000 km² more than pre-2014 figure (~17,075,200). This suggests Crimea's area is included in Russia's total. Ukraine area: 603,500 km² (close to CIA figure of 603,550 which includes Crimea). 6.2K GitHub stars, one of the most popular country data repos.
➖	Natural Earth (ne_110m_admin_0_countries)	Crimea classified as: not_mentioned. Natural Earth uses de facto boundaries. This dataset is the upstream source for D3, Plotly, Highcharts, and most web mapping libraries.
➖	Natural Earth (ne_50m_admin_0_countries)	Crimea classified as: not_mentioned. Natural Earth uses de facto boundaries. This dataset is the upstream source for D3, Plotly, Highcharts, and most web mapping libraries.
➖	GitHub: datasets/geo-countries	Frictionless Data geo-countries dataset. Crimea classified as: not_mentioned.
➖	GitHub: johan/world.geo.json	Popular world GeoJSON (4k+ stars). Crimea classified as: not_mentioned.
➖	npm: i18n-iso-countries	ISO 3166-1 country names (~4M weekly downloads). Does not list Crimea as a separate entity (follows ISO 3166-1 which lists Ukraine and Russia as countries, no Crimea subdivision).
➖	npm: country-list	Country names and ISO codes (~200k weekly downloads). Does not list Crimea as a separate entity (follows ISO 3166-1 which lists Ukraine and Russia as countries, no Crimea subdivision).

Map Services (18)

Status	Platform	Detail
✅	OpenStreetMap Nominatim	Tested 6 Crimean cities: 6 returned UA, 0 returned RU. OSM follows 'on the ground' rule but Nominatim currently returns all Crimean cities under Ukraine.
✅	Apple Maps	Shows Crimea as part of Ukraine outside Russia since March 2022. From Russia: shows as part of Russia (per Russian law). Apple ceased operations in Russia, so RU version may no longer be maintained. Best major map service for Crimea.
✅	OSM Overpass API (admin boundaries)	Autonomous Republic of Crimea: admin_level=4, ISO3166-2=UA-43, is_in:country_code=UA. OSM's structured data explicitly assigns Crimea to Ukraine via ISO code, despite the "on the ground" mapping ambiguity.
❌	Yandex Maps	Shows Crimea as part of Russia with solid borders. Russian company, complies with Russian law. Crimean cities listed under Russian administrative hierarchy (Republic of Crimea, Crimean Federal District). Expected and confirmed by multiple sources.
⚠️	Google Maps	Geo-dependent borders: solid international border (Russia) from Russia, light internal border (Ukraine) from Ukraine, dashed 'disputed' border from all other countries. No policy change since 2014. The 'disputed' framing is itself problematic — UNGA Res 68/262 affirmed Crimea as Ukrainian.
⚠️	Bing Maps (Microsoft)	Insufficient public documentation for 2025-2026 state. Historically showed dashed border similar to Google. Needs direct VPN-based verification.
⚠️	OpenStreetMap	Dual mapping: Crimea simultaneously in both Ukraine and Russia administrative hierarchies since 2014. 'On the ground' rule creates ambiguity. Nominatim geocoder returns Ukraine. Rendered maps vary by tile provider.
⚠️	National Geographic	Inconsistent: five different representations across products. Europe Wall Map labels Crimea as Russian. Other products show disputed borders. No single policy.
⚠️	HERE Maps	Political view system: RUS view available but NO Ukraine view. Default shows disputed borders. Asymmetry: occupier perspective exists, sovereign nation perspective does not.
⚠️	Mapbox	11 worldviews. US default. RU worldview added v3.4. NO Ukraine worldview exists — same asymmetry as HERE Maps.
⚠️	TomTom	Ukraine listed with complete coverage. Crimea not under any Russia zone. Dutch company, EU sanctions apply. Likely UA but unconfirmed.
⚠️	Google Maps (browser check)	Google Maps Crimea — dashed border (disputed default from non-RU location). Screenshot saved.
⚠️	Tesla Navigation	Tesla uses a mix of map providers (Google, Mapbox, TomTom depending on region). Crimea map display likely inherits from provider. Tesla not sold in Russia since 2022.
⚠️	Waze (Google)	Google-owned. Follows Google Maps geo-dependent policy. Crimea likely shows disputed border internationally. Community-edited map data.
⚠️	Garmin	GPS navigation company. Map data from HERE and OSM. Crimea classification depends on data provider. US company — OFAC sanctions apply.
⚠️	Google Earth	Same as Google Maps — geo-dependent borders. Desktop app shows disputed dashed border internationally. Russian version shows solid border.
⚠️	Esri / ArcGIS	Enterprise GIS platform. Uses multiple data sources including HERE and Esri-curated boundaries. Living Atlas has configurable boundary views.
⚠️	Google Business (Maps reviews)	Crimean business listings follow Google Maps geo-dependent policy. Reviews visible but business country depends on viewer location.

Tech Infrastructure & Streaming (46)

Status	Platform	Detail
✅	IANA Timezone Database (zone.tab, legacy)	Legacy zone.tab maps Europe/Simferopol to 'UA'. Older format only supports one country code per zone.
✅	Google libaddressinput	Google's address validation library (615 stars). Classifies Crimean addresses under UA (Ukraine). Powers address forms in Android apps and Chrome autofill.
✅	OurAirports (SIP/Simferopol)	Simferopol International Airport: ICAO=UKFF (UK=Ukraine prefix), IATA=SIP, country=UA, region=UA-43. Alt ICAO: URFF (UR=Russia). Primary code is Ukrainian; Russian code listed as alternate.
✅	Cloudflare CDN	Classifies Crimea as country=UA, subdivision=UA-43. Affects ~20% of all websites. WAF RU-block does NOT capture Crimea. Crimean users appear as Ukrainian.
✅	Domain TLD (.crimea.ua/.crimea.ru)	.crimea.ua EXISTS and is active/registrable. .crimea.ru does NOT exist. DNS hierarchy recognizes Crimea under Ukraine TLD.
✅	Vodafone Ukraine	Vodafone Ukraine lists Crimea in its coverage map as part of Ukraine. Service unavailable in occupied Crimea since 2014 (network taken over by Russian operators).
✅	Kyivstar	Ukrainian mobile operator. Lists Crimea as part of Ukraine. Service disconnected in occupied territory. +380 numbers no longer route to Crimea.
❌	moment-timezone (npm)	Issue #954 requested dissociating Europe/Simferopol from RU. Closed without change. Maintainer: 'We directly consume IANA data. No extra decision layer.' ~12M weekly npm downloads.
❌	libphonenumber-js (npm)	Reimplementation of Google libphonenumber. +7-365/978 (Crimean) numbers parsed as RU. ~13.6M weekly npm downloads. Combined with google-libphonenumber wrapper (~1.6M/wk), total phone number library impact is ~15.2M weekly downloads.
❌	Postal code databases (Russian Post)	Russia assigned postal codes 295000-299999 to Crimea post-2014. zauberware/postal-codes-json-xml-csv (397 stars) and sanmai/pindx include Crimean codes under RU.
⚠️	IANA Timezone Database (zone1970.tab)	Europe/Simferopol mapped to country codes: 'RU,UA'. In zone1970.tab format, 'RU,UA' means both countries claim the zone. Russia is listed FIRST. The older zone.tab lists only 'UA'.
⚠️	Google libphonenumber	Crimean phones classified under BOTH countries. Under Russia (+7): 2 entries (e.g., 736\|Simferopol). Under Ukraine (+380): 3 entries (e.g., 38065\|Crimea). Carrier data lists 4 operators for +7-978 (Crimean mobile): Elemte-Invest, K-Telecom Ltd, MTS, Sevastopol TELECOM.
⚠️	Domain TLD (.ru/.ua)	crimea.ru resolves (78.110.50.145). crimea.ua resolves (5.9.228.67). Both ccTLDs are active for Crimea-related domains. simferopol.ru resolves; simferopol.ua does not. Russian registrars readily serve Crimean entities; Ukrainian .ua registration requires Ukrainian legal entity status, effectively excluding occupied territory.
⚠️	Akamai CDN	Proprietary EdgeScape geolocation. No public Crimea docs. Likely UA based on industry norms but unconfirmed.
⚠️	Deezer	French streaming service. Suspended new subscriptions in Russia 2022. Crimea availability unclear. Uses ISO country codes.
⚠️	SWIFT	SWIFT codes: Crimean banks operate under Russian banking system (CBR) since 2014. Ukrainian bank codes no longer functional in Crimea. Similar to phone number routing — de facto Russian.
⚠️	Coursera	Country selection uses ISO 3166-1. Available in Ukraine. Russia access restricted for some courses. Crimea depends on IP geolocation.
⚠️	Duolingo	Available in both Russia and Ukraine. Country selection for profile uses ISO 3166-1. No separate Crimea option.
⚠️	Google Play Store	Country/region for developers and users follows Google account settings. Crimean users with MaxMind UA IP appear as Ukrainian users. Some Russia-restricted apps may be accessible.
⚠️	Indeed	Job search. Country filter uses ISO 3166-1. Jobs in Crimea could appear under either Ukraine or Russia depending on employer listing.
⚠️	Glassdoor	Company reviews. Location field depends on employer input. Crimean companies may list under either country.
⚠️	NordVPN	VPN provider. Has servers in Ukraine but not in Crimea or Russia. Crimean users connecting via UA server appear as Ukrainian. Lithuanian company.
🚫	Spotify	Exited Russia April 2022. Crimea included in the exit. No separate Crimea region in Spotify's country list.
🚫	Netflix	Exited Russia March 2022. Crimea included. No content available. Previously listed under Russia region.
🚫	Amazon Prime Video	Amazon does not operate in Russia. AWS restricted in Crimea under OFAC sanctions. Prime Video unavailable.
🚫	Disney+	Never launched in Russia. Crimea inaccessible. Service unavailable.
🚫	Apple Music	Apple ceased operations in Russia March 2022. Apple Music, App Store unavailable. Crimea included in block.
🚫	Uber	Sold Russian operations to Yandex in 2018. No Uber service in Crimea. Region served by Yandex.Taxi (Russian).
🚫	eBay	Blocked sellers and buyers in Russia/Crimea since 2022. OFAC sanctions compliance.
🚫	Etsy	Suspended accounts in Russia including Crimea in 2022. Sanctions compliance.
🚫	UPS	UPS suspended services to Russia including Crimea in 2022. Cannot ship to Crimean addresses.
🚫	FedEx	FedEx suspended services to Russia and Ukraine conflict zones. Crimea included in restrictions.
🚫	DHL	DHL suspended deliveries to/from Russia in 2022. Crimea included.
🚫	PayPal	PayPal never operated in Russia. Crimea blocked under OFAC sanctions. No service available.
🚫	Visa / Mastercard	Visa and Mastercard suspended operations in Russia March 2022. Cards issued by Russian banks no longer work internationally. Crimea affected.
🚫	Apple App Store	Apple ceased Russia operations March 2022. App Store unavailable. Crimea included in block.
🚫	AWS (Amazon Web Services)	AWS restricted in Crimea under OFAC sanctions. Cannot create accounts or provision resources from Crimean IPs.
🚫	Microsoft Azure	Azure restricted in Russia and Crimea. Microsoft suspended new sales March 2022.
🚫	Google Cloud	GCP has no Russia region. Services restricted in Crimea under sanctions.
🚫	Uber Eats	Not available in Russia or Crimea. Uber sold Russian operations to Yandex.
🚫	Glovo	Glovo operated in Ukraine but exited Russia. Not available in Crimea.
🚫	Binance	Binance exited Russia entirely in 2024 (sold to CommEX). Crimea explicitly blocked under sanctions since 2022. KYC requires country verification.
🚫	Coinbase	US-based. Crimea blocked under OFAC sanctions. Cannot create accounts from Crimean IPs or with Crimean addresses.
🚫	GoDaddy	US domain registrar. Cannot register domains with Crimean addresses under OFAC sanctions. .ua and .ru TLDs handled by respective country registrars.
🚫	Namecheap	Suspended all services for Russian-registered users in March 2022. Crimea included. Ukrainian-founded company.
➖	Yelp	Yelp does not operate in Ukraine or Russia. No Crimea listings.

Weather Services (12)

Status	Platform	Detail
✅	AccuWeather	Simferopol listed as 'Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine'. URL path contains /ua/ country code.
✅	Weather Underground	Simferopol listed under Ukraine. URL path /ua/.
✅	TimeAndDate.com	Simferopol listed as 'Simferopol, Ukraine'.
✅	Weather Spark	Lists 'Average Weather in Simferopol Ukraine'.
✅	Meteoblue	Simferopol listed under Ukraine.
✅	Weather-Forecast.com	Simferopol listed under Ukraine.
✅	Ventusky	Simferopol listed under Ukraine.
✅	Weather Atlas	Simferopol climate data listed under Ukraine.
✅	weather.com (The Weather Channel)	Sister product Weather Underground (same IBM parent) lists Simferopol under Ukraine. Same geographic database. Likely correct.
✅	BBC Weather	Uses GeoNames ID 693805 (Simferopol = Ukraine). BBC editorial uses "annexed". URL: bbc.com/weather/693805.
✅	AccuWeather (browser verified)	AccuWeather URL contains /ua/ (Ukraine). Simferopol classified as Ukraine.. Screenshot saved.
✅	weather.com (browser verified)	weather.com shows Simferopol under Ukraine. Screenshot saved.

Reference & News Media (31)

Status	Platform	Detail
✅	GeoNames	Major open geographic database. Lists Crimea in Ukraine's administrative hierarchy. Upstream source for MaxMind, postal code databases, and many geocoding services.
✅	CIA World Factbook	Ukraine entry: area = 603,550 km² (includes Crimea). States "Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, approximately 27,000 km²". Ukraine admin divisions include Crimea. Clear framing: Crimea is Ukrainian territory, illegally annexed.
✅	UN M49 / UNGA Resolution 68/262	UN M49 lists Ukraine (804) as sovereign state. No separate Crimea entity. UNGA Resolution 68/262 (2014) affirmed Ukrainian territorial integrity including Crimea, passed 100-11. This is the authoritative international legal baseline.
✅	Encyclopaedia Britannica	Describes Crimea as "autonomous republic, southern Ukraine". States Russia "illegally annexed" Crimea. One of the clearest reference sources. Updated March 2026.
✅	Reuters	Uses "Russia-annexed Crimea" consistently in reporting. Reuters style guide specifies "annexed" framing. Wire service reaches thousands of downstream outlets.
✅	Associated Press (AP)	AP Stylebook: "Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014" — consistent framing. AP wire service reaches majority of US and international media.
✅	BBC News	BBC editorial guidelines use "annexed" or "illegally annexed" for Crimea. Consistent across BBC News, BBC World Service, BBC Ukrainian.
✅	Interpol	Interpol member countries list follows UN membership. Ukraine is member state. Crimea falls under Ukrainian jurisdiction in Interpol systems.
✅	WHO (World Health Organization)	WHO follows UN system. Ukraine listed as member state with full territory including Crimea. Health statistics for Crimea reported under Ukraine.
✅	Lonely Planet	Travel guide publisher. Crimea covered under Ukraine section. Website lists Crimea as part of Ukraine with travel warnings about occupation.
✅	Rough Guides	Travel guide publisher. Crimea listed under Ukraine. Notes Russian occupation and travel restrictions.
✅	Wikitravel	Community travel wiki. Crimea page states: "Crimea is an autonomous republic of Ukraine currently occupied by Russia." Clear sovereignty framing.
✅	ICAO (Intl Civil Aviation Org)	Simferopol airport primary ICAO code is UKFF (UK prefix = Ukraine). Russian alternate code URFF exists. ICAO follows UNGA recognition — primary code is Ukrainian.
✅	IATA	Simferopol airport IATA code SIP. Listed under Ukraine in IATA databases. Airport operationally closed since February 2022.
✅	Wikipedia (Ukrainian)	Ukrainian Wikipedia: Crimea article states territory of Ukraine, occupied by Russia. Clear sovereignty framing consistent with Ukrainian government position.
❌	Wikipedia (Italian)	Article summary frames as Russian without Ukrainian context.
❌	RT (Russia Today)	Russian state media. Frames Crimea as Russian territory. Uses "reunification" not "annexation". Banned in EU since March 2022. Still operates globally online.
❌	Sputnik	Russian state media. Frames Crimea as integral Russian territory across all language editions (English, Spanish, French, Arabic). Banned in EU since March 2022.
❌	TeleSUR (Venezuela)	Venezuelan state-funded. Editorially treats Crimea as Russian territory. Venezuela voted against UNGA 68/262.
❌	Wikipedia (Russian)	Russian Wikipedia: Crimea article frames it as Russian territory ("Republic of Crimea" as subject of Russian Federation). Reflects Russian legal position.
⚠️	Wikipedia (English)	Article summary mentions both Ukraine and Russia.
⚠️	Wikipedia (German)	Article summary unclear framing.
⚠️	Wikipedia (Spanish)	Article summary unclear framing.
⚠️	Wikipedia (French)	Geographic description mentioning both Ukraine and Russia. Does not lead with sovereignty statement.
⚠️	Wikidata (Q7835: Crimea)	Crimea (Q7835) lists BOTH Ukraine (Q212) and Russia (Q159) as country (P17), both at "preferred" rank. Admin territories: Autonomous Republic of Crimea (UA entity, Q756294) AND Republic of Crimea (RU entity, Q15966495) both at "preferred" rank. Wikidata feeds many downstream knowledge systems.
⚠️	Al Jazeera	Uses "Russia-annexed Crimea" in English edition. Arabic edition framing varies. Qatar abstained on UNGA 68/262.
⚠️	CGTN (China)	Chinese state media English channel. Avoids both "annexed" and "Russian Crimea". Uses neutral geographic descriptions. Reflects China's deliberate ambiguity.
⚠️	Google Scholar	Author affiliations from Crimean institutions may list Russia or Ukraine depending on the author. No centralized country classification for Crimea in Scholar.
⚠️	Scopus (Elsevier)	Academic database. Crimean university affiliations may appear under either country. Elsevier follows institutional self-reporting.
⚠️	ORCID	Researcher ID system. Country field is self-reported. Crimean researchers may list UA or RU.
⚠️	ITU (International Telecommunication Union)	ITU assigned +7 country code to Russia (USSR legacy). Crimean phone infrastructure now operates under +7. ITU does not make sovereignty determinations but its code assignments have de facto implications.

Travel & Booking Platforms (11)

Status	Platform	Detail
✅	Google Flights (SIP airport)	SIP (Simferopol) airport classified under Ukraine. ICAO: UKFF (UK=Ukraine prefix). Alt ICAO: URFF (UR=Russia). All flights suspended since Feb 2022.
⚠️	Skyscanner	SIP airport page — country unclear from HTML
⚠️	Google Flights	NEEDS MANUAL CHECK: Search flights to SIP — what country is listed?
⚠️	TripAdvisor	Lists Crimea under 'Europe' with NO country designation — neither Ukraine nor Russia. Avoids the sovereignty question entirely.
⚠️	Skyscanner (SIP airport)	SIP airport page accessible but country classification unclear from HTML. Airport suspended — no active flights.
⚠️	TripAdvisor (browser check)	TripAdvisor Crimea page — country unclear. Screenshot saved.
🚫	Booking.com	Suspended all Russia and Crimea operations since 2022 due to EU/US sanctions. No Crimea properties bookable.
🚫	Airbnb	Explicitly blocks all Crimea listings per sanctions policy. Announced 2022: 'suspended all operations in Russia and Belarus'.
🚫	Expedia / Hotels.com	Ceased all Russia travel sales in 2022.
🚫	Booking.com (browser check)	Booking.com returns no results for Simferopol (sanctions). Screenshot saved.
🚫	World Nomads (travel insurance)	Travel insurance provider. Does not cover travel to Crimea — listed as sanctioned/conflict zone. Classification: occupied territory.

IP Geolocation (5)

Status	Platform	Detail
✅	ipapi.co	Tested 3 Crimean IPs: 2 resolved to UA, 0 resolved to RU, 1 other.
✅	MaxMind GeoIP2	Industry-standard IP geolocation. Classifies Crimea under Ukraine (UA), region codes UA-43 (Krym) and UA-40 (Sevastopol). Data source: GeoNames. ~96% accuracy for Crimean visitors.
✅	ip-api.com	Bulk test: 90 lookups across 90 Crimean IPs from 9 ASNs — 14 RU (16%), 48 UA (53%), 28 other.
✅	ipinfo.io	Bulk test: 30 lookups across 90 Crimean IPs from 9 ASNs — 5 RU (17%), 16 UA (53%), 9 other.
⚠️	IP Geolocation (extended, ip-api.com)	Tested 8 Crimean IPs. Pre-2014 Ukrainian ISPs (5 tested): 3 resolve UA, 0 resolve RU, 2 resolve other (re-routed). Post-2014 Russian entities (3 tested): 3 resolve RU, 0 resolve UA. Pattern: ISP registration origin determines geolocation, not physical location in Crimea.

Social Media (11)

Status	Platform	Detail
❌	Instagram	Maintains BOTH 'Crimea, Ukraine' and 'Russia, Crimea, Yalta' as active location tags. Users can freely choose either, effectively normalizing Russia's sovereignty claim.
⚠️	TikTok	Moved Ukraine out of shared 'Russia + Ukraine' region category in 2022 after Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation intervened. Crimea-specific city tags need verification.
⚠️	Facebook	Likely shares Instagram's location database (both Meta). May have contradictory location tags. Needs direct verification.
⚠️	X / Twitter	No structured country enforcement on location tags. Users can set free-text locations. Needs verification of any location autocomplete behavior for Crimean cities.
⚠️	YouTube	Uses ISO 3166-1 for content regions (UA and RU separate). Content availability in Crimea depends on IP geolocation (MaxMind=UA). Some Russia-restricted content may be accessible from Crimea via UA classification.
⚠️	Tinder	Uses GPS location, not country classification. Crimean users see nearby profiles regardless of country assignment. No explicit sovereignty determination.
⚠️	Telegram	Dubai-based (founded by Russian-born Durov). No country-based location system. User phone numbers determine region (+7 = RU, +380 = UA). Widely used in both Russia and Ukraine.
⚠️	WhatsApp (Meta)	Phone number-based. Crimean users with +7 numbers appear as Russian contacts. Those with +380 appear as Ukrainian. No explicit location tagging.
⚠️	Signal	Privacy-focused messenger. Phone number-based. No country classification system. Available in all countries.
⚠️	Reddit	No location-based content system. r/crimea and r/ukraine subreddits exist. No platform-level sovereignty determination. Flair and user input determines framing.
🚫	LinkedIn	LinkedIn blocked in Russia since November 2016 (Roskomnadzor). Crimea access depends on ISP routing. Profile location uses ISO 3166-1 countries.

Gaming Platforms (4)

Status	Platform	Detail
⚠️	Steam	NEEDS MANUAL CHECK: Check country/region settings. Steam blocks Crimea under US sanctions. Verify store region list — is Crimea listed separately?
⚠️	Epic Games Store	NEEDS MANUAL CHECK: Check region restrictions. Known to block Crimea.
⚠️	EA Sports FC / FIFA	NEEDS MANUAL CHECK: Check player nationalities for Crimean-born players. Are they listed as Ukrainian or Russian?
⚠️	Hearts of Iron IV	NEEDS MANUAL CHECK: Check map data files — how is Crimea's state/province defined?

Search Engines (6)

Status	Platform	Detail
⚠️	Google Search	NEEDS MANUAL CHECK: Search 'Crimea' on Google. Check the knowledge panel on the right side. Does it say 'Country: Ukraine' or 'Country: Russia'? Also check from different country VPNs (US, UK, Germany, Russia).
⚠️	Bing Search	NEEDS MANUAL CHECK: Search 'Crimea' on Bing. Check the knowledge panel. What country does it show?
⚠️	DuckDuckGo	Instant Answer API returns Wikipedia as source for Crimea but no country field in the structured response. Needs browser-based manual verification for knowledge panel content.
⚠️	Bing Search (knowledge panel)	Searched 'Crimea' on Bing. Knowledge panel: both_mentioned. Screenshot saved.
⚠️	Google Search (knowledge panel)	Searched 'Crimea' on Google. Knowledge panel country: None. Screenshot saved.
⚠️	DuckDuckGo (info box)	Searched 'Crimea' on DuckDuckGo. Info box: both_mentioned. Screenshot saved.

Sports Organizations (5)

Status	Platform	Detail
✅	Transfermarkt	Simferopol-based clubs listed under Ukrainian football hierarchy. Crimean player searches return Ukraine references.
⚠️	ESPN	Editorial: "annexed by Russia" (accurate). Sports DB: Crimean clubs under Russian league. Split between editorial correctness and structural classification.
⚠️	FIFA / EA Sports FC	Crimean clubs moved into Russian football system by UEFA in 2014. After 2022 Russia suspension, moot for international play. Player nationalities follow FIFA registration (birth country vs national team separate).
⚠️	UEFA	Created "special zone" for Crimean clubs in 2015. Banned them from Russian AND Ukrainian leagues. After 2022 Russia suspended from all competitions.
⚠️	Olympics / IOC	IOC does not recognize separate Crimean Olympic committee. Crimean athletes must compete under Ukraine or Russia (when not banned). Post-2022 Russian athletes compete as neutrals.

Crimea Is
Ukraine

Sovereignty Classification Results by Category

The Root Cause: One Dataset, Millions of Wrong Maps

The 2022 Bifurcation

Changed After 2022

Still Unchanged (2026)

The Infrastructure Stack

The Gold Standard: Weather Services

All Findings (180)

Data Visualization Libraries (18)

Open Source Geographic Data (13)

Map Services (18)

Tech Infrastructure & Streaming (46)

Weather Services (12)

Reference & News Media (31)

Travel & Booking Platforms (11)

IP Geolocation (5)

Social Media (11)

Gaming Platforms (4)

Search Engines (6)

Sports Organizations (5)

About This Research

Automated Checks

Media & Political Analysis

Reproducible