MOSCOW: "Kremlin staff involved in President Vladimir Putin’s 2024 re-election campaign have been banned from using their iPhones for fear of espionage, the Kommersant daily reported Monday, citing an unnamed source with knowledge of the decision. “The iPhone is over. Either throw it away or give it to children,” Kommersant quoted one of the officials as saying. According to Kommersant, the Kremlin believes iPhones are more susceptible to hacking and espionage by Western specialists than other smartphones. Citing its source, the publication said the Kremlin urged officials to replace their iPhones with Androids or their Chinese or Russian-made analogs. The administration has also reportedly floated the possibility of replacing the 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 the Russian operating system Avrora. The Kremlin on Monday said that its staff are not permitted to use smartphones of any kind for official purposes.
“Whatever they are, there is no difference. Any smartphone is quite a transparent mechanism, no matter what operating system, Android or iOS. Naturally, they are not used for official purposes,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters."
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/03/20/kremlin-bans-iphones-for-officials-involved-in-putins-2024-re-election-kommersant-a80542