The company stopped Apple All sales of its products in Russia were halted in March 2022 and services such as Apple Pay were suspended in response to Russia’s war on Ukraine. Sanctions imposed by Western countries have also sought to limit technology exports to Russia.
Russians will have to buy the iPhone 16 at prices hundreds of dollars higher than those for American consumers, according to a Reuters report.
Foreign brands that have halted exports to Russia are now resorting to indirect routes to reach consumers, often through countries that have not imposed sanctions on Russia, such as Turkey, Kazakhstan, China, India and the UAE.
Reuters was unable to determine the route the new iPhones would take to reach Russia.
Western goods and technology remain very popular in Russia, a potential vulnerability that Moscow wants to reduce through domestic production.
The Kremlin has told officials to stop using iPhones, saying Western intelligence services have hacked their phones using surveillance software. Apple denies the allegations.