MOSCOW, July 23. /TASS/: The situation with Crimea’s ownership on the map posted on the official website of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics calls for a response by the Russian Embassy and Russian sports officials, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.
"I believe this is a reason for our embassy and our sports officials to take certain steps and ask respective questions," Peskov stressed.
The Olympics website posted in its Schedule & Results section a map with the countries, where fans are offered to press a Cheer button to support their teams. Earlier reports said on this map Crimea was separated from Ukraine by the border. After that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry ordered Ukraine’s embassies in Switzerland, where the International Olympic Committee is headquartered, and in Japan to iron out the border issue. Later, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba announced that the IOC had changed the map and offered apology for the mistake.
After the coup d’etat in Ukraine in February 2014, Crimea and Sevastopol held a referendum, in which 96.7% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification deal on March 18, 2014, which the Federation Council (upper house of the Russian parliament) ratified on March 21, 2014. Despite the convincing results of the referendum, Kiev refused to recognize Crimea as part of Russia.
