Ukraine vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov in an open letter to Apple has urged the Cupertino-based technology giant to stop extending its App Store services and products to Russian users, as his country continues to be under attack from the bigger neighbour.
The letter, shared through Mykhailo's Twitter account, is addressed to Apple's CEO Tim Cook, asking for his support to uphold the package of US sanctions being imposed on Russia.
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Calling the military action against Ukraine "deceptive and absolutely outrageous", Fedorov said the whole world was repelling Russia through sanctions and the enemy needed to suffer, "significant losses".
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He called on Cook to stop Apple services and products in Russia, including, "blocking access to the App Store" in the country.
“We are sure that such actions will motivate youth and active population of Russia to proactively stop the disgraceful military aggression,” Fedorov wrote in the letter shared on Twitter.
The United States has vowed to limit Russia's ability to be part of the global economy and its department of treasury has severed ties with Russia's largest bank, Sberbank. There are also plans to target Russia's second- largest bank and impose restrictions on 13 major Russian enterprises and entities.
Russian forces had captured the southeastern Ukrainian city of Melitopol on February 26, Reuters reported Russia's Interfax news agency as saying, with Moscow launching coordinated cruise missile and artillery strikes on several cities, including the capital Kyiv.
Ukrainian officials were not immediately available for comment on the fate of Melitopol, a city of about 150,000 people. If confirmed, it would be the first significant population centre the Russians have seized since their invasion began on February 24, the report said.
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