Like it did in China, Apple has decided it will comply with a 2014 Russian law requiring citizen data to be stored in local servers (via AppleInsider).
[Russia, China Are Spying on Trump’s Insecure iPhone]
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Local Storage
The company supposedly registered with Russia on Christmas Day. Data like names, addresses, email contacts, and phone numbers would be kept on Russian servers.
iCloud services like Photos, iMessage, and iCloud Drive weren’t mentioned, but it’s possible they would still be covered under the law.
The law took effect in 2018 and user data has to be stored in Russian servers for up to six months.
Of course, this brings up worries that this data will be used by the Russian government against people who oppose Vladimir Putin, such as activists.
Sadly Apple’s commitment to privacy doesn’t extend to users in China or Russia.