Apple stops all product sales in Russia in response to Ukraine war

Apple just made a big statement in response to Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, as it has halted all product sales in Russia. 

According to a report In Bloomberg, Apple stopped exporting products in the country’s sales channels as of last week, prior to pausing sales. So customers in Russia will not be able to buy the best iPhones, MacBooks, Apple Watch devices or any other Apple products.

In addition, Apple is pulling the RT News and Sputnik News apps form App Stores outside of Russia. Plus, Apple has disabled traffic and live-incident features in Ukraine, presumably in Apple Maps. Apple has also "limited its Apple Pay service and other online offerings" in Russia over the last several days. 

In a statement, Apple says that it stands “with all of the people who are suffering as a result of the violence."

"We are deeply concerned about the Russian invasion of Ukraine," Apple 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."

Just yesterday Ukraine had called on Apple to stop selling products in Russia via vice-prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov. He also urged Apple to shut down its App Store in Russia, but that does not appear to be happening as of now. 

In a letter, Fedorov said, “I appeal to you and I am sure that you will not only hear, but also do everything possible to protect Ukraine, Europe, and, finally, the entire democratic world from bloody authoritarian aggression — to stop supplying Apple services and products to the Russian Federation, including blocking access to App Store.”

For now, Apple says it is calling for peace and that it will continue to evaluate the situation. 

Fedorov also called on DJI to create a no-fly zone for Russian-operated drones in Ukraine. 

Other tech companies have responded to Russia's invasion of Ukraine as well. Just recently Netflix announced that it would refuse to carry state-run Russia channels on its streaming platform, and several studios have pulled their movies from the country including The Batman from Warner Bros. In addition, Twitter, YouTube, and Meta have all either blocked Russian state media channels or de-monitized their content. And Google is pushing out air raid alerts to Ukrainian Android users.

If you want to help Ukraine, here is a list of resources to which you can donate to charitable organizations.