A group of Russian leaders were recently seen passing around an iPhone at a business conference, the latest indicator of Russian interest in the phone, according to a new report. Citing a journalist attending the conference, the Washington Post reports that Dmitry Kozak, the Russian minister of regional development, was seen showing the device to Ramzan Kadyrov, the president of the Russian republic of Chechnya, Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s president-elect, and Alexander Tkachev, the local governor.
According to Eldar Murtazin, head of analysis for Mobile Research Group in Moscow, there are approximately 500,000 iPhone users in Russia—a number that seems overly optimistic, as it would dwarf Apple’s sanctioned sales in countries such as the United Kingdom, France, and German. Murtazin claims that iPhone sales in the country are third-highest in the world, after the U.S.
and China, adding, “Russian people love anything that is forbidden.” The report goes on to state the iPhone has become commonplace at the Kremlin and in Russia’s parliament, and is now widely available at electronics stores and through Internet sales across the former Soviet Union.
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