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Kremlin Bans Officials in President Putin’s Circle from Using iPhones. PHOTOS/Khaleejtimes
MOSCOW – Staf Kremlin involved in the Presidential re-election campaign Vladimir Putin in 2024 has been banned from using iPhone for fear of espionage. This was reported by the Kommersant daily, Monday (20/3/2023), which cited an anonymous source.
Home policy officials of the Russian presidential administration, public projects, the State Council and the Information Technology department — known as the Kremlin’s “internal bloc” — face a deadline of April 1 to dispose of the US-made mobile devices.
“iPhones are over. Either throw it away or give it to the children,” Kommersant said, quoting one of the officials. “Everyone should do it in March,” continues the Kommersant report.
The iPhone ban could also affect internal policy officials in Russia’s regional administrations, the publication added.
Sergei Kiriyenko, the Kremlin’s first deputy chief of staff, reportedly had the “last word” on whether to ban iPhones after debate over the matter broke out at a seminar near Moscow in early March.
According to Kommersant, the Kremlin believes that the iPhone is more vulnerable to hacking and espionage by Western specialists than any other smartphone.
Citing its sources, the publication said the Kremlin urged officials to replace their iPhones with Android or analogues made in China or Russia. The administration also reportedly forbids the possibility of replacing officials’ discarded iPhones with “new and secure” devices themselves.
The reported iPhone ban comes as the Russian government seeks to wean the country off Western technology with a so-called “sovereign mobile ecosystem” based on Russia’s Avrora operating system.
The Kremlin said on Monday that its staff were not allowed to use smartphones of any kind for official purposes.
“Whatever they are, there is no difference. Any smartphone is a fairly transparent mechanism, regardless of operating system, Android or iOS. Naturally, they are not used for official purposes,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
(esn)
