"Starting April 1, 2026, payment processing will no longer be available for purchases made on the App Store or other Apple media services in Russia," the company announced. The change affects all Apple services; however, the company states that iCloud+ subscriber data will remain accessible after their subscriptions end, even after losing premium cloud storage space. Previous purchases will continue to be available to customers, as will existing funds in Apple accounts until they are spent. When asked why Russia is doing this, here is the answer. Russian news agency RBC reported that government officials said the move was taken to prevent users from paying for VPN applications. Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Russia has intensified its crackdown on such services as part of its "great reckoning" with online information and speech. By mid-January, it allegedly blocked 70 percent more VPN applications than at the end of last year. Given that Russia’s war with Ukraine is now in its fifth year, Putin’s regime clearly aims to bolster domestic support in the way autocracies do—by restricting access to information. VPNs are known to enable Russians to bypass strict online censorship in the country. Russian repression has also included blocking WhatsApp, slowing down Telegram, and repeatedly disrupting mobile internet in Moscow.