VK Group, the developers of VKontakte and related services, issued their own statement complaining that “Apple has removed VK applications from the App Store without prior notice or explanation… VK has never been subject to sanctions or included in sanctions lists, a fact confirmed by numerous legal opinions of international and US lawyers. Apple has been in possession of these official legal opinions and all relevant information for a long time. However, Apple unilaterally removed VK applications without prior notice… We consider these actions by Apple regarding Russian users to be unjustified and unacceptable.” (Translation from Russian via Google Translate).
VK Group also emphasized that its Android apps “remain fully functional, including updates, notifications and other features, and are available through RuStore, Google Play, Huawei AppGallery, Samsung Store, Xiaomi Store and official product websites.”
This also seems to be the Kremlin’s new line. A Russian Telegram channel reporting on Peskov’s comments I mentioned it yesterday such as saying that perhaps Apple cannot be “trusted as a commercial service provider” and that the blocks are part of a pattern of “Apple decisions that are, to put it mildly, strange.” (Translation from Russian via Google Translate).
Still, despite the posturing, Peskov knows the result; There is little Russia can do about the situation. Instead, it ended with an appeal to users. “There is always an immediate solution,” he said, “switch to Android, switch to our systems, switch to our equivalent service and continue using the services you love.”
