VK Sues Apple Over Removal of Apps from App Store

Russian tech giant VK has filed a lawsuit against Apple in a Moscow arbitration court after the U.S. company removed VK’s apps from its App Store earlier this summer. Apple removed VK’s platforms in June, citing compliance with international sanctions, though EU sanctions targeting the Russian company were announced only a month later. In its Wednesday filing, VK requested that the Moscow court order Apple to restore its applications to the App Store, reinstate push notifications for users and impose daily penalties if Apple fails to comply with the ruling. “Apple unilaterally removed VK apps from the App Store without warning,” VK’s press service told the Interfax news agency. The Russian tech company is seeking daily compensation of 58 million rubles ($700,000) until Apple reinstates its apps. Last month, the EU said it sanctioned VK over its role in developing the Kremlin-backed messaging app Max, which critics say was created for mass surveillance and censorship. Both VK applications and Max have also been removed from Google’s Play Store.