Apple halts sale of products in Russia

Apple on Tuesday announced it has suspended the sale of all its products in Russia following Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

"Last week, we stopped all exports into our sales channel in the country. 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," Apple said, CNN reported.

The tech giant also "disabled both traffic and live incidents in Apple Maps in Ukraine as a safety and precautionary measure for Ukrainian citizens," according to a statement from the company.

Google on Sunday made a similar decision and temporarily disabled live information on Google Maps on traffic and businesses.

"In the old days, we would have relied on a reporter to show us what was happening on the ground," researcher Jeffrey Lewis told The Washington Post. "And today, you can open Google Maps and see people fleeing Kyiv."

Apple's Russian website states that the Apple store is currently closed, but it does not give an explanation as to why.