Russian Government Prohibits Use of Apple Products by State Employees Due to US Surveillance Fears

According to the Financial Times, the Russian government has initiated a ban on the use of Apple devices by government employees for official state purposes. Starting from Monday, the trade ministry will enforce a prohibition on the use of iPhones for any work-related activities. Other government agencies, such as the telecommunications and mass media ministry, already have similar regulations in effect or are planning to implement them soon. The ban encompasses all Apple products, although officials may still use these devices for personal use as long as they refrain from accessing work-related correspondence.

Apple did not immediately respond to ReturnByte’s request for comment. After Russia’s attack on Ukraine last February, the company cut off access to Apple Pay. It later stopped all product sales in Russia. At the time, Apple made it clear that the decision was in response to the attack, noting that it was “with all the people” who were hurt by the attack.

The ban came after Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed in early June that it had uncovered a “US intelligence operation” involving Apple devices. The FSB said thousands of iPhones, including those used by the country’s diplomatic missions in NATO countries, were “infected” with the surveillance software. The FSB claimed – without providing evidence – that Apple had worked closely with US signals intelligence to provide agents with a “wide range of control tools”. The tech giant denied the allegations, stating that it has “never worked with any government to build a backdoor into any Apple product, and never will.”

More broadly, the move reflects the Russian government’s desire to reduce its dependence on foreign technology. As The Times notes, President Vladimir Putin last year signed a decree ordering institutions involved in “critical information infrastructure” to switch to domestically developed software by 2025.