Russia's trade minister, according to a Financial Times report, said the ban was immediate and would affects a variety of Apple products from iPhones, iPads, and laptops.

The ban builds off of similar restrictions already put in place by the digital development ministry and state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec. Kremlin officials also advised staff working on Vladimir Putin's 2024 presidential re-election campaign against using a variety of US-developed smartphones over similar espionage conveners earlier this year.

Russian intelligence officials last month accused the US National Security Agency of hacking into thousands of Russian-owned iPhones and targeting the phones of foreign diplomats based in Russia.

The Tame Apple Press is furious and claims that Russian officials still haven't provided any clear evidence proving the alleged US conspiracy. Apple has publicly denied the claims and recently told the Times it "has never worked with any government to build a backdoor into any Apple product, and never will."

However as Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council and one of the country's fiercest hardliners. "When a big tech compan...claims it does not co-operate with the intelligence community — either it lies shamelessly or it is about to go bust."

Apple is unlikely to be losing much sleep over the ban. It has withdrawn its operations from Russia and part of the global embargos following the Ukraine War.   Russia has yet to ban Android or Microsoft gear.