Apple pulls App Store billing in Russia

• App Store in-app purchases and subscription renewals are no longer available.
• The UK Government had fined Apple £390,000 for breaching sanctions.
• Streaming service Okko said to be owned by sanctioned firm JSC New Opportunities.

Apple has pulled App Store payment processing in Russia after the tech giant was found to have breached UK sanctions on the country.

A notice from Apple said in-app purchases and subscription renewals are no longer available unless users already have funds in their account balance. App Store codes can still be redeemed.

As well as App Store purchases, impacted services include Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts subscriptions, Apple One, Apple TV, iTunes Store, iCloud+ and ringtone purchases. 

Breaching sanctions

Last week, The Guardian reported that the UK Government fined Apple’s Ireland subsidiary £390,000 for breaching sanctions against Russia by making two payments worth more than £635,000 in total to a streaming service Okko, which is owned by sanctioned Russian entity JSC New Opportunities.

Ireland-based Apple Distribution International gives out App Store payments to app publishers in Europe and the Middle East. The UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ruled that “on the balance of probabilities”, Apple had broken the sanctions with the payout.