Apple has halted product shipments and sales to Russia. The company said it stands with the people of Ukraine and those suffering due to the violence in the region. The Cupertino-based giant said Tuesday that all exports into Russia's sales channel were halted since last week ahead of a full suspension of online and offline sales.
Apart from halting the sales of its popular devices, the company said it has also removed the RT News and Sputnik News apps from its App Stores outside of Russia. Apple said live-incident features and traffic in Ukraine will be halted as a "safety and precautionary measure." Apple had also recently limited its Apple Pay and online services in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement, Apple expressed its deep concern about the situation in Ukraine and the plight of the Ukrainian people. The company said it fully supports all humanitarian efforts in the country and it will provide aid for the refugee crisis. It added that it would provide all the support it can for its employees in the region.
Apple said it is in constant communication with the governments involved in the crisis, and it will continue to evaluate the situation. The company added that it is joining everyone around the world, calling for peace.
Last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed his concerns about what was happening in Ukraine. Cook did not specifically mention Russia and only mentioned that he was concerned about those now being placed in harm's way.
The move came just days after Ukraine called on Apple to halt its sales in Russia. Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov claimed that the halting of sales of Apple products could help persuade Russia's youth to protest the invasion. Ukraine had also called on Apple to remove its local Russian-language Apple App Store, which has been operating in the country for the last several years and tailor-made for Russian customers.
In the past, Apple had cut off an entire country due to geopolitical and economic reasons. Last year, the company temporarily halted all sales in Turkey following economic turmoil and the crash of the nation's currency.
Apple's move comes amid mounting public pressure on major corporations to take action against Russia. Following increased pressure from European governments to act against pro-Russian propaganda, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have all begun to clamp down on information published by Russian media. Netflix has also stated that it will not broadcast Russian state television networks.
Following Apple's announcement on Tuesday, Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, tweeted that Apple CEO Tim Cook should complete the job and asked him to fully to ban Russia's access to its app store.
