Russia blocked the option to top up Apple ID balances from mobile phone accounts at midnight on April 1, the Russian business daily Kommersant and the Russian Telegram news channel Ostorozhno Novosti confirmed. Users attempting to make a purchase in the App Store see a message saying that payment by mobile phone is temporarily unavailable and to try again later. Payments are failing for customers of three of the four major carriers: MTS, Beeline, and T2, Kommersant reported.
On March 30, the Russian business news outlet RBC reported, citing sources in the telecom industry, that Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadaev had instructed the four major carriers at a closed-door meeting to disable the option to top up Apple ID balances from mobile accounts starting April 1. Russian authorities hope the measure will pressure Apple into restoring Russian services to the App Store, sources at RBC and Kommersant said.
The following day, MTS and Beeline advised their customers to top up their Apple ID balances from their mobile accounts well in advance to preserve access to their subscriptions.
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