Kremlin officials have been banned from using iPhones and must get rid of their Apple smartphones by the end of March, Kommersant reported.
"By the end of March, employees within the internal policy bloc of the presidential administration (PA) are recommended to switch from iPhones, if they use them, to smartphones of other brands and with a different operating system," the report said.
According to the publication, officials were informed of this information at the beginning of the month.
The source said that the Kremlin may even purchase new "secure phones" for its employees to make it easier for them to switch away from American technology.
A source close to the Kremlin said that officials in regional internal policy blocs will also receive similar recommendations.
"iPhone is either everything or nothing. Either you throw it away or give it to your children. Everyone will have to do this in March," said one of the participants at the seminar where the use of iPhones was prohibited.
Another participant in the seminar said that at first there was a discussion among the participants about the necessity of such a measure, but the first deputy head of the PA, Sergei Kiriyenko, who oversees internal policy, put an end to the discussion.
He also set April 1 as the deadline for his employees to switch from iPhones. Photo by Dion Hinchcliffe, Wikimedia commons.