A 7th grade Ukrainian language textbook published a map of Ukraine without Crimea

In a 7th-grade Ukrainian language textbook, an illustration was published showing a map of Ukraine without Crimea.

The textbook, approved by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and published this year by Kyiv-based “Litera LTD,” was quickly criticized online for the omission.

Co-author of the textbook, Anastasia Onatiy, acknowledged the mistake on Facebook.

Onatiy explained that the absence of Crimea was due to an oversight by the designers.

“It’s our mistake. Crimea is ours. I want to start by acknowledging this: we sincerely admit our oversight. A pictogram in the shape of Ukraine without Crimea was included in the book due to an unfortunate lack of attention. We missed it during the review process—however you put it, the fact remains that we unintentionally hurt people, and we apologize for this. Crimea is ours, Ukrainian—this is an unequivocal statement, and we say it clearly again and will continue to say it… It turns out that stock images now offer ‘convenient’ maps with two layers—one with Crimea and one without,” Onatiy explained.

She proposed correcting the error together with students by launching a flash mob called “Draw Crimea.”

“Colleagues, educators, please take 10-15 minutes during a lesson to discuss this mistake with your students and draw Crimea onto the icon in the textbook on page 3. Support us—this will be a good opportunity to talk about Crimea, its Ukrainian identity, and the importance of recognizing our own mistakes,” the author wrote.

In the current electronic version of the textbook, the map has already been corrected. However, the fate of the printed copies is still unclear.

This incident follows a recent controversy involving the Ukrainian branch of the American audio equipment company JBL, which faced backlash for a social media post featuring a map of Ukraine that excluded Crimea and the non-government-controlled areas of Donbas.