MOSCOW, June 25 — Apple has removed apps belonging to Russian social media giant VK from the App Store without advance notice, the Russian firm said Thursday in a statement on its website.
All platforms owned by VK have vanished from the App Store, including VK Video, VK Music, VK Messenger, Mail.ru, Yula and Zen, said the company, which is Russia’s largest domestic social media ecosystem.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described what Apple did as “strange, to say the least” in his daily briefing. “We are talking about tens of millions of people whose interests are affected by such decisions of Apple Inc.”
Asked if Moscow would intervene, Peskov said it would first seek explanations from Apple before deciding whether to “continue any interaction with this company.”
He added that “undoubtedly, this raises questions about the reliability of the service of App Store, and the extent to which it can be trusted as a provider of commercial services.”
“VK has never been subject to sanctions or featured on any sanctions list, a fact backed by numerous legal assessments from international and U.S. attorneys. Official legal memorandums and all relevant supporting data have long been provided to Apple. Even so, Apple unilaterally delisted VK’s apps from the App Store without prior alert. By taking such steps, Apple is restricting Russian users’ access to widely popular everyday services,” VK said.
The company described Apple’s actions against its apps and users as “unjustified and unacceptable.”
Earlier this month, Russia’s messenger MAX was also pulled from the App Store. Mikhail Oseevsky, head of Russia’s largest digital services provider Rostelecom, denounced Apple’s decision as hostile conduct on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, noting that “against the backdrop of MAX’s ongoing rollout, this move is clearly an outright unfriendly act.”
Google Play has likewise removed a number of Russian applications citing sanctions, such as Kaspersky antivirus software and official mobile apps of some Russian banks. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
