Google Play has removed the russian apps VK, ‘Odnoklassniki’ and Mail.ru

This is according to reports in the russian media.

VK has stated that apps previously installed continue to work without restrictions, but they can only be downloaded via alternative Android app stores.

At the same time, journalists report that VK and the Max messenger – which russia launched last March, positioning it as an alternative to Telegram – are also unavailable on Huawei’s AppGallery.

At the end of June, VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, Mail.ru, Zen, VK Video, VK Messenger, VK Music and VK Dating disappeared from the Apple App Store. All of them belong to the russian holding company VK.

By July, the russian social network VK and the messaging app Max had already been hit by EU sanctions. According to the EU, VK passed on data to the russian authorities on users who had criticised the war against Ukraine, and helped to restrict the use of VPNs.

In Ukraine, ‘VKontakte’, ‘Odnoklassniki’ and a number of other russian services and websites were banned in 2017. The ban has been extended several times since then.

Source: Babel