Apple has become the latest major company to halt all product sales in Russia – as the corporate exodus grows
In a widening corporate backlash to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the iPhone giant stated that it was “deeply concerned” about the Russian invasion and stands with those “suffering as a result of the violence”.
The move by Apple comes as Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov last week called on the company’s CEO, Tim Cook, to take a stand against actions by the Kremlin.
I’ve contacted @tim_cook, Apple's CEO, to block the Apple Store for citizens of the Russian Federation, and to support the package of US government sanctions! If you agree to have the president-killer, then you will have to be satisfied with the only available site Russia 24. pic.twitter.com/b5dm78g2vS
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 25, 2022
Apple Pay and other services such as Apple Maps have also been limited.
Google has also removed Russian state-funded publishers such as RT from its features.
According to news agency RIA, mobile banking applications in Russian, such as Russia’s VTB Bank’s app, may soon not function fully on devices using Apple’s iOS operating system,
Apple said in a statement that the firm had disabled both traffic and live incidents in Apple Maps in Ukraine as a “safety and precautionary measure for Ukrainian citizens”.
