Apple halted the sale of all its products in Russia, stores and its online store in the country is now closed, Apple’s Russian website stated.
In its statement, the company also said it had already stopped exporting its equipment to the country since last week.
Analyst Gene Munster of the investment firm Loup Ventures estimated that Russia accounts for about 2% of Apple’s global revenue, or nearly $7 billion.
The announcement comes after Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov sent an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook urging him to “support the US government’s sanctions package” and “do everything possible to protect Ukraine”.
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Apple also said it had “limited” its mobile payment service Apple Pay, without specifying what this entailed. The company also disabled certain features on its Apple Maps app in Ukraine, such as reporting live incidents, “as a safety and precautionary measure for Ukrainian citizens”.
Apple also announced that the apps of pro-Russian media Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik are no longer available for download in the App Store.
This move adds to the list of sanctions taken by digital platforms over the past few days on Russia. Many tech giants have stepped up their efforts to contain disinformation coming from Moscow, under pressure from policymakers.
