Anton Gorelkin, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Technology, announced that Apple’s removal of VK applications from the App Store constitutes an information war against Russian citizens.
In a statement shared via the Maks messenger on June 25, Gorelkin described Apple’s actions as chaotic and potentially eroding trust among Russian users. He noted that the company has denied millions access to banking, transportation, and communication services without reason.
“This is a pure information war,” Gorelkin stated. “Do not refer to ephemeral ‘sanctions,’ because everyone— including international lawyers— knows VK is not on sanctions lists.”
The deputy further asserted that Apple’s actions are revenge “unleashed at the behest of globalist elites” and amount to a campaign of “real terror.”
On June 25, Apple unilaterally removed VK applications from its App Store. According to VK, this move restricts Russian users’ access to social networks, messaging platforms, video services, email, and educational products while also preventing push notifications for messages and important events.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that the removal of Russian apps from Apple’s store undermines the company’s reliability as a commercial provider in Russia. He added that this is not the first time Apple has removed applications from domestic developers on its Russian segment.
