Due to the invasion of Ukraine, Apple (AAPL) has stopped sales of all of its goods in Russia, the company announced Tuesday.
In a statement, the firm said it is “deeply concerned” about the Russian incursion and has “paused all product sales” in the country as a result. Apple also said that it has taken steps to restrict access to digital services such as Apple Pay inside Russia, as well as the availability of Russian state media apps outside the country.
“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,” Apple said. “And we have disabled both traffic and live incidents in Apple Maps in Ukraine as a safety and precautionary measure for Ukrainian citizens.”
Apple’s move comes amid mounting public pressure on digital corporations to take action against Russia. Last week, the Ukrainian government asked Apple to cease selling its apps in Russia, but some security and democracy experts believe that this could hinder Russian protesters who rely on Western tools to organise.
Following increased pressure from European governments to act against pro-Russian propaganda, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have all began to crack down on content published by Russian media. Netflix has also stated that it will not broadcast Russian state television networks in the nation.
Following Apple’s announcement on Tuesday, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, tweeted that Apple CEO Tim Cook should “finish the job” and asked the company to “ban” access to its app store in Russia once more.