Apple halts product sales in Russia

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

According to a statement from the company, Apple has stopped selling physical products in Russia. This is Apple's latest step after it imposed limitations for Apple Pay in Russia in accordance with sanctions, and it pulled some Russian news apps from the App Store outside of the country.

In its statement, Apple says that it stopped all exports into its sales channel in the country last week in response to the violence. The company will continue to evaluate the situation and will communicate with the governments of affected countries.

Last week, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote an open letter to Apple, asking the company to cut Russia off from its products, services, and App Store. He says in the letter that he is sure that such actions will motivate youth and active population of Russia to stop military aggression.

Apple says that it turned off traffic and live incident reports in Apple Maps as a safety measure. Researchers were able to get some insight into the Russian invasion by using traffic data that was turned off by the internet giant.

According @googlemaps, there is a "traffic jam" at 3:15 in the morning on the road from Belgorod, Russia to the Ukrainian border. It starts *exactly* where we saw a Russian formation of armor and IFV/APCs show up yesterday.

Someone's on the move. pic.twitter.com/BYyc5YZsWL

— Dr. Jeffrey Lewis (@ArmsControlWonk) February 24, 2022

We were able to access Apple's Russian online store, but products like the iPhone and Mac are currently unavailable and cannot be added to the shopping cart.

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Here is Apple's full statement.

“We are deeply concerned about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and stand with all of the people who are suffering as a result of the violence. We are supporting humanitarian efforts, providing aid for the unfolding refugee crisis, and doing all we can to support our teams in the region.

We have taken a number of actions in response to the invasion. 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.

We will continue to evaluate the situation and are in communication with relevant governments on the actions we are taking. We join all those around the world who are calling for peace.”