Apple removes Russia’s largest social network VKontakte from App Store – Apple App Store/Music/TV/News/Podcasts

VK, the Russian technology group behind social network VKontakte with hundreds of millions of downloads, said its app had been removed from Apple’s App Store. In a translated statement the company said “some VK apps were blocked by Apple” but that it would “continue to develop and support iOS apps”.

In an interview with state media Russia Today, Russia’s Ministry of Digital Affairs said it was investigating “the reasons for the deletion of VK apps and developer accounts, and underlined the social significance and scale of use of the services provided by Russian companies.” The apps are still currently available on Google’s Play Store.

Since the start of the war, the Russian government has blocked several American social media sites, including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. The U.S. and other governments have sanctioned a number of individuals and businesses linked to the Russian government, including VK Group CEO and Putin ally Vladimir Kiriyenko.

According to SimilarWeb, Apple’s removal of VK’s apps means that Russian iPhone users can no longer use apps from the country’s fifth most popular website, as well as other VK apps such as Mail.ru, VK Music and Youla Classifieds. The company told Russian news outlet Interfax that apps already downloaded to phones may continue to work, but there may be issues with notifications and payments.

Interfax also reported on Tuesday that VK sold the assets of its gaming unit My.Games to Alexander Chachava, the head of LETA Capital, a Russian businessman whose company is based in the Cayman Islands, raising a total of $642 million to complete the deal. It will continue to be run by executives already in place, and VK has touted it as a Russian alternative to Steam and the Epic Games Store, as sanctions have prevented many overseas digital games from being sold in the country.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the app being removed from the store. Earlier this year, it halted product sales in the country and made certain Russian news apps inaccessible anywhere but Russia, just as sanctions made Google Pay and Apple Pay impossible for customers of Russian banks a few weeks later.