Apple to halt sales and limit services in Russia

Apple has become the latest major firm to halt all product sales in Russia, in a widening corporate backlash to the country's invasion of Ukraine.

The iPhone giant said it was "deeply concerned" about the Russian invasion and stands with those "suffering as a result of the violence". Apple Pay and other services such as Apple Maps have also been limited.

Google has also removed Russian state-funded publishers such as RT from its features.

Mobile banking apps in Russian, such as Russia's VTB Bank's app, may soon not function fully on devices using Apple's iOS operating system, according to sources.

Apple said in a statement that the firm had 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 Mykhailo Fedorov published an open letter to Apple on Twitter, in which he asked Apple to cut Russia off from its products, services, and App Store.

Earlier, Google restricted news firms funded by the Russian government from advertising tools and some features on YouTube.

Apple is generally fairly good at keeping its head down when it comes to global affairs. There are many phone companies in Russia, and plenty of alternatives to Apple products.

People with iPhones will also still be able to use the App Store - the pause in sales will not have a huge immediate impact.

But as brands desert Russia, its citizens will begin to notice that products they used to buy, simply aren't available anymore.