DJI suspends sales in Russia and Ukraine to prevent its drones from being used in combat

DJI has temporarily suspended sales and all business activities in both Russia and Ukraine “in light of current hostilities,” the dronemaker has announced. As Reuters reports, that makes it the first major Chinese company to halt sales in Russia after the country started its invasion of Ukraine in February. Unlike their peers in the West, most Chinese companies have chosen to continue their operations in the country. 

A DJI spokesperson told Reuters that it’s not making a statement about any country by pulling out of Russia and Ukraine — it’s making a statement about its principles. “DJI abhors any use of our drones to cause harm, and we are temporarily suspending sales in these countries in order to help ensure no-one uses our drones in combat,” the spokesperson told the news organization. 

This move comes a month after Ukrainian politician Mykhailo Fedorov called on DJI to stop selling its products in Russia. The country’s Minister of Digital Transformation posted an open letter for the dronemaker on Twitter that says Russia is using DJI products to navigate its missiles “to kill civilians.” It also says Russia is using an extended version of DJI’s AeroScope drone detection platform to gather flight information. 

In addition, MediaMarkt, a German chain of stores selling electronics across Europe, removed DJI’s products from its shelves after receiving “information from various sources that the Russian army is using products and data from the Chinese drone supplier DJI for military activities in Ukraine.” DJI denied that it was actively supporting the Russian military not just by providing hardware, but also by providing flight data and called the accusations “utterly false.” 

A few days ago, DJI issued a statement to condemn the use of its products to cause harm. It said it does not market or sell its products for military use and that its distributors have all agreed not to sell products to customers who’ll clearly use them for military purposes. “We will never accept any use of our products to cause harm, and we will continue striving to improve the world with our work,” the company wrote.

BTS dance lessons are coming to Apple Fitness+

Get ready for a Dynamite workout. Apple has a few updates for Fitness+ timed with International Dance Day, which is coming up on April 29th, and arguably the most interesting are the new Dance workouts set to Korean pop sensation BTS’ music. Through its existing relationship with BTS, Apple will be teaching users the actual choreography from videos for songs like “Dynamite,” “Mic Drop” and, very aptly, “Permission to Dance.” 

The first of the BTS dance workouts will arrive next week, but Apple is also bringing new content to its Artist Spotlight series. In addition to music from BTS, Fitness+ is also getting playlists from ABBA and Queen. Every Monday over the next four weeks, there will be new workouts featuring each artist across categories like Strength, HIIT, Treadmill, Cycling, Yoga, Pilates and Dance. 

There will be new dance workouts featuring music from other musicians too, including sessions led by trainer Jhon Gonzalez set to genres like cumbia, tango and Indian pop. While the Fitness+ team generally comes up with their own choreography, for the BTS videos they will be teaching the band’s own smooth-like-Butter moves. 

Those who work hard enough and shed some Blood, Sweat and Tears (okay, hopefully no blood) on April 29th will be eligible to earn limited-edition awards and animated Messages stickers. You’ll have to be On the workout for at least 20 minutes, and Fitness+ will highlight six sessions of that duration to help you Go get those rewards.

On April 25, which by the way is the perfect date for a Spring Day, Apple will also release a new collection of workouts to ease beginners into dancing with three 20-minute guides. There will also be three 30-minute options that focus more on performance, and span categories like 80’s classics, Latin music and hip hop. That last one is great for Hip Hop Lovers.

If BTS is your Idol, this news is probably Dope. Or Fire. Apple may add more workouts based on the band’s music so Stay tuned for more. And if BTS or dance are not your thing, then Life Goes On.