Russian Social Network VK Sues Apple Over App Store Removal
VK, Russia’s largest social media conglomerate, said it has filed a lawsuit against Apple over the tech giant’s delisting of its applications in June. VK is now seeking 58 million rubles per day in damages, which include 50 million rubles for the VK platform, 3 million for the Odnolassniki network, and 5 million for the VK Music service.
Russian social media giant VK has initiated legal proceedings against Apple, claiming the latter's June decision to remove VK from its App Store marketplace. The lawsuit, filed in the Moscow Arbitration Court against Apple Inc., Russian Apple Rus LLC, and Irish Apple Distribution International Ltd, demands 58 million rubles ($700,000) per day from Apple if it does not comply with the court's ruling.
This demand breaks down to 50 million rubles ($605,000) daily for VK, 3 million rubles ($36,287) for Odnoklassniki, and 5 million rubles ($60,479) for VK Music. The controversy began when Apple removed VK and Max messenger from its App Store due to Russia's sanctions on VK for its role in developing the Kremlin-backed messaging service.
VK is seeking Apple's reinstatement of the app and its notifications for users. The Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia has also threatened Apple with a 4 billion rubles ($49.7 million) fine for alleged non-compliance with Moscow's demands for pre-installing Kremlin-sanctioned messaging services. Despite leaving Russia in March 2022 amidst the invasion of Ukraine, VK continues to provide localized versions of its services.
In April 2026, Apple suspended support for Apple subscriptions and mobile phone account purchases from Russian telecom providers due to unspecified reasons.
Written by urgent.news from Kyiv Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
