by Jason Snell
Apple pauses sales in Russia, disables propaganda apps
On Tuesday Apple halted all sales in Russia and removed the RT and Sputnik apps from the App Store. Here’s the Apple 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 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.
According to Politico’s Alex Ward, the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine made this statement: “Apple has stopped selling its equipment in the official online store in Russia, thanks to Tim Cook.”