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Google PlayApple has halted the sale of all of its products in Russia amid the country’s assault on Ukraine.
The tech giant announced the news in a statement on Tuesday, CNN reports.
“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,” an Apple spokesperson said. “We are supporting humanitarian efforts, providing aid for the unfolding refugee crisis, and doing all we can to support our teams in the region.”
The company went on to say that, along with stopping all exports into Russia, Apple’s payment service, Apple Pay, is being limited in the country.
“Last week, we stopped all exports into our sales channel in the country,” the company explained. “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.”
Mykhailo Fedorov, the vice prime minister of Ukraine, took to Twitter this afternoon to reveal that he contacted Apple CEO Tim Cook about blocking the App Store for citizens of Russia.
“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!” Fedorov wrote. “If you agree to have the president-killer, then you will have to be satisfied with the only available site Russia 24.”
Following Apple’s announcement, Fedorov once again took to Twitter to applaud the company for its decision, while reiterating his previous comments about blocking the App Store in Russia.
“No more @Apple product sales in Russia!” he wrote. “Now @tim_cook, let’s finish the job and block @AppStore access in Russia. They kill our children, now kill their access.”
Apple isn’t the first major American company to cut Russia off. Also this week, Warner Bros. announced that it wouldn’t be releasing The Batman for Russian audiences.
