Russian authorities have banned thousands of officials and civil servants from using iPhones and other Apple products as the campaign against the US tech giant escalates into espionage, the newspaper reported. Financial Times.

All use of iPhones for “commercial purposes” will be banned starting Monday, the newspaper reported, citing the Russian Trade Ministry.

The Digital Development Ministry and state-owned company Rostec, which are under Western sanctions for funding Russia’s war machine in Ukraine, said they would take similar steps if the Trade Ministry went ahead with its announcement.

According to the newspaper, the ban on Apple devices reflects growing concern among the Kremlin and the FSB’s spy agency

The paper said Ross analysts questioned the practice’s ability to allay fears of Western intelligence agencies infiltrating Russian government systems.

Andrei Soldatov, an expert on Russian security and intelligence services, was quoted as saying, “The Russian security service has long been concerned about the use of iPhones for government communications, but the president and other officials have opposed it.” [وضع قيود على الاستخدام] Because they love iPhones.”

The ban imposed by the commerce ministry also includes conducting business-related correspondence through e-mail.

Using devices for personal purposes is still allowed.

A senior Russian cybersecurity analyst, Alexei Lukatsky, was quoted as saying that officials doubted whether they would permanently switch to devices running the “antiquated” Russian-made Aurora platform.

The campaign began after the Russian security service announced on June 1 that it had uncovered “spying operations by US intelligence agencies using Apple devices,” the newspaper said.

Apple denied the allegations, saying in a statement that it “has never, and never will, work with any government to create a backdoor for any Apple product.”

Russian officials were not convinced by Apple’s statements.