Apple to halt sales and limit services in Russia

 Apple has become the latest major firm to halt all product sales in Russia, in a widening corporate backlash to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The iPhone giant said it was “deeply concerned” about the Russian invasion and stands with those “suffering as a result of the violence”.

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.

Mobile banking apps in Russian, such as Russia’s VTB Bank’s app, may soon not function fully on devices using Apple’s iOS operating system, according to news agency RIA.

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”.

Last week, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov published an open letter to Apple on Twitter, in which he asked Apple to cut Russia off from its products, services, and App Store.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

Earlier, Google restricted news firms funded by the Russian government from advertising tools and some features on YouTube.

“We are committed to complying with all sanctions requirements and we continue to monitor the latest guidance,” the company wrote in a blog post.

The company also told the BBC that Google Pay had been limited in the country – for those using sanctioned banks. Google has not, however, blocked Google Pay in Russia.

Google also said “most of our services (like Search, Maps and YouTube) currently remain available in Russia, continuing to provide access to global information and perspectives.

Apple is generally fairly good at keeping its head down when it comes to global affairs.For example, it has faced criticism for not standing up to China over its treatment of Uyghurs.

This move then is significant, and unusual, by the iPhone maker.

One by one global brands have been moving to distance themselves from Russia – making the country look more and more isolated.

But it was by no means certain that Apple would make this move. The company had started to receive criticism for its relative silence on Ukraine.

The BBC had reached out to Apple for comment, but had not received a reply until this announcement.

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