Activists use Google Maps to send messages to Russian people

Restaurant reviews on Google are becoming new modes of communication in Ukrainian war effort

The Empire State Building in New York lights up with the colours of Ukraine in a show of solidarity. Photo: Empire State Building

Zac Haycock stands in front of the Utah State Capitol, which is lit in blue and yellow in support of Ukraine. AP

The I-35W Bridge glows blue and yellow in support of the people of Ukraine in Minneapolis, Minnesota. EPA

Demonstrators hold flags and a sign during a 'Stand with Ukraine' rally in front of the White House in Washington. Reuters

Protesters gather at Town Square in Jackson, Wyoming, to show solidarity with Ukraine amid the Russian invasion. Several of the protesters were native Ukrainians with family in the country. AP

People protest outside the UN in New York against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Reuters

US first lady Jill Biden wears a mask with a sunflower, the national flower of Ukraine. AFP

An American flag unfurls off a pedicab as it glides past the Denver City/County Building, which is illuminated in yellow and blue in support of Ukraine. AP

Kristina Ulyanenko protests the Russian attack on Ukraine at the state capitol in Austin, Texas. AP

Flowers and messages are piled together outside the Ukrainian embassy in Washington. AP

The Paramount Miami Worldcentre skyscraper in Florida lights up blue and yellow. Paramount Miami Worldcentre via AP

A store in Lewiston, Maine, programmed its 11-metre light tower to dance through a series of blinking yellow and blue lights that eventually come together to form the colors of the flag of Ukraine. AP

Joni Ernst, a Republican senator from Iowa, wears a brooch in the colours of Ukraine during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing at the US Capitol. EPA

Protesters listen to speakers as they gather for a rally in support of Ukraine at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City. AP

Dmytro Stasyshen of Ukraine holds a sign to protest the Russian invasion during a rally in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles. AP

Evergy Plaza in Topeka, Kansas, will be lit in blue and yellow lights. AP

People dine inside Veselka restaurant where a Ukrainian flag hangs in the East Village in New York. AP

Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine

Social media activists are attempting to circumvent Russian censorship by using Google Maps to call for an end to the violence amid the invasion of Ukraine.

Activists are using the platform to find Russian cafes and restaurants and leave reviews to deliver anti-war messages to Russian citizens.

“Five thousand Russian soldiers died in Ukraine … Your president deceived you. There was no genocide in Ukraine. It was a pretext for attacking a sovereign and democratic Ukraine,” reads one translated review of a Starbucks in Moscow.

“[President Vladimir] Putin lied to you!!! He sent young boys to the war, who did not know that they were going to die there … Russian people, wake up!!!”

Users leave messages on Google Maps to communicate with the Russian people on the ongoing assault on Ukraine. Screengrab from Google Maps

One user, leaving a review for Maestrello, a pizzeria, wrote: “Russia attacked Ukraine. Your soldiers are bombing my city. My country!”

Another added: “The pizza is the bomb!! Due to military sanctions, this restaurant will soon be closed! What a pity!”

Twitter and Facebook have both been restricted in Russia as the country attempts to limit the flow of information, with Russians telling The National they are unable to communicate through Facebook's Messenger app.

The Russian rouble plummeted on Monday, falling to a record low against the dollar, after the US and European nations placed a series of harsh sanctions on Moscow in response to the assault.

“Your government lies, you are bombing innocent people. Nobody want to attack Russia, we want peace. Your president is [a] war criminal,” a review of Boston Seafood & Bar, a restaurant in Moscow, said.

Russia on Sunday for the first time stated that some of its forces had been killed or wounded in Ukraine, though it did not provide any numbers.

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday claimed 4,500 Russian troops have been killed.

A monitor displays a projectile striking the regional state administration building in Kharkiv, as the Russian invasion continues. Reuters

People help a wounded woman in the aftermath of Russian shelling in Kharkiv. EPA

Ukrainian emergency service personnel carry the body of a victim following shelling in Kharkiv. AP

Students who fled the conflict rest in a refugee camp in Voluntari, Romania. AP

Members of an Ukrainian civil defence unit pass new assault rifles to the opposite side of a blown-up bridge on Kiev’s northern front. AFP

Civilians cross a river on Kiev's northern front. AFP

A woman takes photos of a destroyed accommodation building near a checkpoint in Brovary, outside Kiev. AP

The city hall of Kharkiv, damaged by Russian shelling. AFP

Debris litters the square outside the damaged Kharkiv city hall. AFP

A Ukrainian woman sleeps on the floor of the railway station in Zahonyi close to the Hungary/Ukraine border. AFP

A medical worker attends to wounded man at a hospital in Brovary, outside Kiev. AP

Refugees from Ukraine in a tent at the Medyka border crossing, Poland. AP

Debris outside the regional administration building, which city officials said was hit by a missile, in Kharkiv. Reuters

A student evacuated from Ukraine is embraced by her family after arriving at Tunis-Carthage International Airport in Tunisia. AFP

Rescuers in a building damaged by a missile in central Kharkiv. Reuters

An ambulance is visible through the damaged window of a vehicle hit by bullets in Kiev, Ukraine. Reuters

Territorial defence members prepare to head out on patrol in Kiev. EPA

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech on screen during the opening of the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. AP

A policeman detains a young demonstrator during a protest against Russia's attack on Ukraine in St Petersburg, Russia. AP

Local residents in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, prepare Molotov cocktails. Reuters

Residents clean a bomb shelter under an out-of-service cinema in central Zhytomyr. Reuters

Ukrainian volunteers tear cloth into strips to make camouflage nets in Lviv, western Ukraine. AP

Part of the military convoy north-west of Invankiv, Ukraine. AP

Mark Goncharuk, a young boy from Kiev, leaves his father behind as he travels with the rest of his family towards the border. Reuters

People hold an anti-war protest outside the Russian Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico. Reuters

A crater caused by shelling on the outskirts of Kiev. AFP

People queue outside a grocery store in the Ukrainian capital. EPA

Ukrainian soldiers stand at Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square, in Kiev. EPA

Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, second left, and Davyd Arakhamia, faction leader of the Servant of the People party in the Ukrainian Parliament, third right, attend the peace talks in the Gomel region of Belarus. AP

People who have fled the Russian invasion in Ukraine, clamour to board a bus bound for a refugee centre established in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters

Hanna Pavlovna Lukasz, from Mirhord, Ukraine, said her sons, aged 12 and 8, and her 66-year-old mother had been waiting on the Ukrainian side of the border crossing with Medyka, Poland, for four days. AP

A volunteer from Kiev prepares a rear post with trenches in the city. AFP

A child being treated for cancer rests in the bomb shelter of the oncology ward at a hospital in Kiev. Getty

Police officers check occupants of a suspicious car in Kiev, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues. Reuters

A woman from Ukraine uses a phone to listen to a speech by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a refugee shelter in Beregsurany, Hungary. Reuters

Shelves empty of bread after a curfew was lifted as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kiev. Reuters

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, left, and President Zelenskyy. AFP

Snow-covered shoes donated for those fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland. Reuters

People who have fled Ukraine wait for a bus to transport them away from the border crossing in Medyka. Reuters

Norwegian soldiers of the Nato-enhanced forward presence battalion pose at a military plane as they arrive at an airport in Kaunas, Lithuania. AP

A person fleeing Ukraine sits during snowfall at a temporary camp in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters

Footage reportedly of Russian Buk missile system vehicles on a road before a drone strike near Malyn, Ukraine. Reuters

An explosion after what are said to be Russian Buk missile system vehicles on a road are struck by a drone. Reuters

The monument to Russian troops from the Second World War, after the figures’ hands were painted red, at the Red Army memorial in Sofia, Bulgaria. EPA

The Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, is lit up with the colours of Ukraine’s national flag in a show of support. AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the construction site of the National Space Agency on the premises of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Centre, in Moscow. EPA

A man looks out from a train, at the railway station in Lviv, Ukraine. The UN has estimated the conflict could produce as many as four million refugees. AP

A Ukrainian boy waits for his mother after passing the border crossing point in Siret, northern Romania. EPA

Russian policemen detain a demonstrator in St Petersburg, during a protest against the country's military actions in Ukraine. EPA

Ukrainian soldiers at a check point in the city of Zhytomyr. Reuters

Residents prepare petrol bombs to defend the city, in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Reuters

A pro-Russian fighter sits inside a tank in the separatist self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, in the Luhansk region, Ukraine. Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, second left, and Head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and First Deputy Defence Minister Valery Gerasimov, left, during their meeting in Moscow. AP

Ukrainians and supporters gather during a demonstration in front of the Greek Parliament in Athens against the Russian military's operation in Ukraine. AFP

Ukrainian Territorial Defence fighters test an automatic grenade launcher taken from a destroyed Russian infantry mobility vehicla after a battle in Kharkiv. AFP