Apple has suspended all sales of its products in Russia in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine, the company said this afternoon. Online sales were immediately halted, while the company said it stopped shipping products to Russian retail channels at some point last week.
Apple also made changes to some of its services in response to the intrusion; The apps of Russian state media companies RT and Sputnik have been removed from the Apple App Stores in all territories outside of Russia, and the company has stopped providing real-time traffic and incident data for Ukraine on Apple Maps “as a security and precautionary measure for Ukrainians.””. citizens.”Apple Pay has also been “limited”- the company did not specify, but transactions through a number of Russian banks that fell under the sanctions are no longer supported.
In an internal email (via MacRumors), Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company is “donating to humanitarian aid and providing relief for the unfolding refugee crisis.”Apple will also match employee donations to “eligible organizations”2 to 1.
Apple is joining many other tech companies, including but not limited to Microsoft, Google and Meta, in delisting and deprioritizing Russian state media on its platforms. Microsoft has removed the RT and Sputnik apps from the Windows Store and restricted their presence in its Bing search engine, and YouTube has blocked RT and Sputnik content in Europe and demonetized their content elsewhere. Meta blocks bot networks on Facebook and Instagram, and also provides tools to protect the accounts and personal data of citizens of Ukraine and Russia. The US and other countries have also blocked the export of chips, telecommunications equipment and other equipment to Russia as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.
“We will continue to assess the situation and will contact the relevant governments regarding the actions we are taking,”Apple said in a statement.