Apple joins other global giants in Russia exit

Business exodus gathers pace as Kremlin bombards Ukraine with lethal weapons.

Apple products will no longer be sold in Russia, in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine.

“We are deeply concerned about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and stand with all of the people who are suffering,” Apple said in a statement provided to the media on Tuesday. “We have paused all product sales in Russia."

The company added that it had already "stopped all exports into our sales channel in the country" last week. The statement added: "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.”

Last week, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov published on Twitter an open letter to Apple, in which he asked the company to cut Russia off from its products, services and App Store.

Other major international brands, such as Nike, have also announced they would withdraw from the Russian market. Payment giants Mastercard, American Express and Visa have made similar moves. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. pulled the release of “The Batman” film in Russia, which was supposed to come out on Friday, following a similar move from Disney.

U.S. airplane manufacturer Boeing on Tuesday announced it would suspend parts, maintenance and technical support for Russian airlines and major operations in Moscow.

U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil also announced on Tuesday that it would wind down its operations in Russia, and would halt any new investment in the country. Exxon's announcement followed BP, Shell and Equinor, who said earlier in the week that they would divest from their operations in Russia.

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