Russia Ditches American Cell Phones As Putin Meets With Chinese President XI To Solidify Their Alliance in a 4.5 Hour Meeting In Moscow

Reports suggest Russian officials have been told to get rid of their iPhones by the end of March, amidst the sanctions war with the West over Ukraine and growing tensions over competitor states’ using each other’s tech more comprehensively.

Mobile phones manufactured by Apple will no longer be permitted at the Presidential Administration, according to a report by Russian daily newspaper Kommersant [Businessman] which has also been picked up by the likes of POLITICO and Newsweek.

Sergei Kiriyenko, first deputy chief of staff at the administration, is said to have issued the order at a seminar, with an attendee quoted by Kommersant saying: “It’s all over for the iPhone: Either throw it away or give it to the children. Everyone will have to do it in March.”

Kommersant noted that the Kremlin has been talking about ” a sovereign mobile ecosystem in Russia… based on technologies independent of Western IT giants” since late last year, motivated chiefly by security concerns. Part of the motivation for the decision is “information security”, in other words the believed ease with which the U.S. can spy on iPhone users remotely.

The anti-iPhone move, which has not been officially confirmed by the Kremlin as of the time of publication, comes as their is increasing tension over the use of competitor states’ technology not just in Russia but in the West as well — though there concerns tend to focus on Russia’s allies in Communist China.

Tech giant Huawei, specifically, has become a focal point of much discussion, with even the likes of Britain — traditionally keen to diminish itself before Peking (Beijing) in hopes of cementing Chinese investment — starting to baulk at its involvement in key infrastructure such as the 5G network after the Wuhan virus pandemic accelerated the souring of Sino-Western relations.

There are also concerns over Chinese-made surveillance cameras in Britain turning out to have hidden microphones in them, and to be connected to suspected human rights abuses in Xinjiang (East Turkestan).

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States even disclosed worries that Chinese telecoms equipment may be capable of interrupting and even stopping military communications last summer.

Because of decisions by this WH & State, Putin & Xi are now on a mission (together) to destroy us! They will not stop this combined effort until they win. It’s likely the Ukrainian people will embrace them too! And if the Ukrainian people want peace, the Intl Community should… https://t.co/xHBIeekPGh

— General Mike Flynn (@GenFlynn) March 21, 2023

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