South Korean gift stirs controversy over Russian borders

On the globe given by the diplomat from the South Korean consulate general in Russia, Crimea, along with the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, are shown as part of Ukraine.

Speaking to the local press, the head of the library in Nogliki on Sakhalin, Olga Rozhnova, expressed her concerns, stating that "these actions are unacceptable towards her and the indigenous population of Sakhalin."

"A diplomat cannot be unaware of the responsibility associated with deliberately distorting Russia's borders on maps, and the fact that the presence of this globe in a city institution can be perceived as an expression of separatism by the indigenous people of the [Russian] north," Rozhnova said indignantly.

The head of the library also assured that she had contacted the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the alleged violation of law by the South Korean diplomat.

Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014, following the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych after the Euromaidan protests. After organising a referendum, which was widely denounced as fraudulent by Ukraine and the majority of the international community, Crimea was annexed to Russia.

In response to the conflict with Ukrainian government forces in 2014, pro-Russian separatists declared the formation of the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic. In 2022, Russia recognised these self-proclaimed republics and sought to integrate them into its own state structures, a move that was announced during referendums.

Nearly three years after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, much of eastern and southern Ukraine remains under Russian occupation. This includes parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.

Source: Belsat, X, WP News