Apple Halts All Product Sales in Russia
Posted on March 1, 2022
Apple has halted sales of all its products in Russia in a major response to Russia's invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Russia's invasion of the democratic country has motivated many companies to halt products and services in Russia. Governments are also sanctioning Vladimir Putin and the Russian government.
A spokesperson for Apple is quoted by Yahoo Finance as saying, "We have paused all product sales in Russia. Last week, we stopped all exports into our sales channel in the country. Apple Pay and other services have been limited. RT News and Sputnik News are no longer available for download from the App Store outside Russia. And we have disabled both traffic and live incidents in Apple Maps in Ukraine as a safety and precautionary measure for Ukrainian citizens."
The move follows a direct request from the Ukraine government for Apple to halt services in Russia. Business Insider reports that Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote a letter Apple CEO Tim Cook. Federov's letter said, "We need your support - in 2022, modern technology is perhaps the best answer to the tanks, multiple rocket launchers (hrad) and missiles."
Apple has also made other moves including disabling some functions of Apple Maps in Ukraine and removing Russian government news services (RT News and Sputnik News) from the App Store.
It is not clear how much accurate information about the war is making its way to the Russian public. Hopefully, they will understand why iPhones, iPads and other Apple products are no longer available to purchase inside Russia.