Apple Removes Russian VK Apps From App Store in Response to UK Sanctions

Apple has removed from the App Store all iOS apps belonging to Russian technology conglomerate VK, a move Apple says is in response to the latest round of UK sanctions on Russian oligarchs.

vk logo

"These apps are being distributed by developers majority-owned or majority-controlled by one or more parties sanctioned by the UK government," said Apple spokesperson Adam Dema in a statement given to The Verge. "In order to comply with these sanctions, Apple terminated the developer accounts associated with these apps, and the apps cannot be downloaded from any App Store, regardless of location. Users who have already downloaded these apps may continue to use them."

The UK government on Monday enacted a new package of sanctions affecting tens of executives at Gazprombank, a Russian bank with links to VK. The sanctions were in response to sham referenda recently staged by Russian authorities in occupied areas of Ukraine.

The Russian Ministry of Digital Affairs told state media outlet RT that it was looking into "the reasons for deleting VK applications and developer accounts, underlining the social significance and scale of use of the services provided by the Russian company." Meanwhile, VK told Russian news outlet Interfax that the apps may continue to work but that there could be issues with notifications and payments.

VK, or VKontakte, is a social media app created in 2006 by Pavel Durov, who also founded and still runs Telegram. Durov was dismissed as CEO of VK in April 2014 after he allegedly refused to hand over the personal details of users to the Russian Federal Security Service.

Apple's removal of the apps from its ‌App Store‌ means users no longer have access to the app for social media network VK, the fourth most popular website in Russia, as well as Mail.ru and VK Music. The apps were included in a list that Apple was legally obliged to show to new iPhone owners in Russia for download during initial setup, until Apple stopped selling its products in the country.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iPhone 17 Pro USB C Port

iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max 61W USB-C Power Adapter 67W USB-C Power Adapter 70W USB-C Power Adapter 96W USB-C Power Adapter 140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1

Monday September 22, 2025 10:05 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with the first betas of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The new betas are the first updates to the iOS, iPadOS, macOS 26, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS releases that came out last week. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going...

Top Rated Comments

LeeW Avatar
39 months ago

What happened to free speech? Many people on the app don’t agree with putin, the people suffering are innocent Russians.
The reason has nothing to do with Free Speech, it's who owns it. You can't just throw 'Free Speech' in front of everything.
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Alchemist Avatar
39 months ago

Free speech means the government won't persecute you for expressing your opinion. This isn't that.

Also, Russians aren't innocent. Most support what Russia is doing in Ukraine, and Putin.
This. Removing a platform, in this case VK, from another platform, in this case the Apple App Store, is not a denial of free speech.

If you're concerned about defending free speech, take a look at Russia itself. Expressing an anti-war opinion in Russia will get you locked up right now. Holding a blank placard on the street will get you locked up right now. That is a denial of free speech, this action by Apple and the UK is not.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ninethirty Avatar
39 months ago

What happened to free speech? Many people on the app don’t agree with putin, the people suffering are innocent Russians.
Free speech means the government won't persecute you for expressing your opinion. This isn't that.

Also, Russians aren't innocent. Most support what Russia is doing in Ukraine, and Putin.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ninethirty Avatar
39 months ago

Many don't actually support, but speaking out isn't an option for them. And many of those that support Putin's activities do so based on the story they're fed, which is very different to the story we're fed in the West.
Many is not most. Do yourself a favor and read about split Russian families. Those still living in Russia believe quite strongly what they've been told, and won't listen at all to expat Russians who have tried to warn them that they're being fed lies.

Regardless, taking some extra time to look at any situation objectively, instead of just believing what you're being told on state run tv (which should already be a warning flag to most), isn't exactly hard, and yet they're not interested.

This isn't any different than those that choose to believe MAGA lies about stolen elections, or Q Anon nonsense. They're choosing to believe what isn't true, and supporting liars willfully.

Russians are not innocent. They are willing participants.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SoldOnApple Avatar
39 months ago
I guess VK won't be replacing Facebook anytime soon.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ian87w Avatar
39 months ago
So the sanction is from the UK? Can Apple simply block the app on the UK app store? I mean if it's from the US government, then maybe it makes more sense. Does this mean the UK government can dictate what Apple have in the app store for other countries? Maybe someone can provide more details. Genuinely curious.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)