Russian citizens told “switch to Android” after Apple blocks key Russian apps

苹果封禁俄罗斯关键应用，俄方呼吁民众“改用安卓”

According to Apple’s 2025 App Store Transparency Report, Russia is the runaway world leader in one category: Demanding that Apple remove apps from its App Store. In 2025, Russia asked that Apple remove 1,213 apps—many of these VPN apps designed to thwart the country’s draconian Internet censorship. (Vietnam was number two, requesting that 335 apps be blocked.) 根据苹果公司 2025 年的《App Store 透明度报告》，俄罗斯在“要求苹果从应用商店下架应用”这一类别中遥遥领先，位居世界第一。2025 年，俄罗斯要求苹果下架了 1,213 款应用，其中许多是旨在规避该国严苛互联网审查的 VPN 应用。（越南以 335 款应用被要求封禁位列第二。）

Russia is essentially trying to build a closed, spy-friendly, domestic version of the Internet. While the Russian government loves demanding app bans from Apple, it only wants bad, degenerate apps banned. It does not want good, strong Russian apps banned, such as VKontakte (a Russian version of Facebook) or the Max messaging app (state-mandated communications software so creepy that one exile publication described it with the insanely long headline, “You already know Russia’s Max messenger spies on users. You probably don’t know just how many surveillance tools it hides, including even a neural network for eavesdropping.”) 俄罗斯本质上正试图构建一个封闭的、便于监控的国内版互联网。虽然俄罗斯政府热衷于要求苹果封禁应用，但他们只希望封禁那些“糟糕、堕落”的应用，而不希望封禁那些“优秀、强大”的俄罗斯本土应用，例如 VKontakte（俄罗斯版 Facebook）或 Max 消息应用（这是一款由国家强制推行的通信软件，其监控程度令人毛骨悚然，一家流亡媒体曾用极长的标题描述它：“你已经知道俄罗斯的 Max 消息软件在监视用户，但你可能不知道它隐藏了多少监控工具，甚至包括用于窃听的神经网络。”）

In the last few weeks, Apple has blocked both of these key apps, making them unavailable to iPhone users in Russia. Existing installs will still function, but Apple has shut down push notifications from the apps, making them far less useful. Max was blocked on in the first week of June. VKontakte was blocked on June 25. 在过去几周里，苹果封禁了这两款关键应用，导致俄罗斯的 iPhone 用户无法再下载它们。虽然已安装的应用仍可运行，但苹果关闭了这些应用的推送通知功能，使其效用大打折扣。Max 于 6 月的第一周被封禁，VKontakte 则于 6 月 25 日被封禁。

According to the Moscow Times, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said yesterday that “the Russian government expects an explanation from Apple for the removal of VK apps.” VK Group, the developers of VKontakte and related services, issued its own statement complaining that “Apple has removed VK apps from the App Store without warning or explanation… VK has never been subject to sanctions nor included on sanctions lists, a fact confirmed by numerous legal opinions from international and US counsel. Apple has long been in possession of these official legal opinions and all relevant information. Nevertheless, Apple unilaterally removed VK apps without prior notice… We consider these actions by Apple regarding Russian users to be unjustified and unacceptable.” 据《莫斯科时报》报道，克里姆林宫发言人德米特里·佩斯科夫（Dmitry Peskov）昨日表示，“俄罗斯政府期待苹果就下架 VK 应用给出解释。”VKontakte 及其相关服务的开发商 VK Group 也发表声明抱怨称：“苹果在没有任何警告或解释的情况下将 VK 应用从 App Store 下架……VK 从未受到制裁，也未被列入制裁名单，这一事实已得到国际和美国法律顾问的多项法律意见书证实。苹果长期以来一直掌握着这些官方法律意见书及所有相关信息。然而，苹果在没有事先通知的情况下单方面移除了 VK 应用……我们认为苹果针对俄罗斯用户的这些行为是不公正且不可接受的。”

VK Group also stressed that its Android apps “remain fully functional—including updates, notifications, and other features—and are available via RuStore, Google Play, Huawei AppGallery, Samsung Store, Xiaomi Store, and official product websites.” VK Group 还强调，其安卓版应用“功能依然完备——包括更新、通知和其他功能——并且可以通过 RuStore、Google Play、华为应用市场、三星应用商店、小米应用商店以及官方产品网站获取。”

This appears to be the new line from the Kremlin, as well. A Russian Telegram channel that reports on Peskov’s comments quoted him yesterday as saying that Apple perhaps could not be “trusted as a commercial service provider” and that the blocks are part of a pattern of “decisions by Apple that are, to put it mildly, bizarre.” 这似乎也是克里姆林宫的新立场。一个报道佩斯科夫言论的俄罗斯 Telegram 频道昨日援引他的话称，苹果或许已不再“值得作为商业服务提供商信任”，这些封禁行为是“苹果一系列决策模式的一部分，往轻了说，这些决策非常怪异。”

Still, despite the posturing, Peskov knows the score; there’s little Russia can do about the situation. So instead, he ended with an appeal to users. “There is always an immediate solution,” he said, “switch to Android, switch to our systems, switch to our equivalent service, and continue using the services you love.” 尽管姿态强硬，但佩斯科夫心里很清楚，俄罗斯对此无能为力。因此，他最后向用户发出呼吁：“总有立竿见影的解决方案，”他说，“改用安卓，改用我们的系统，改用我们的同类服务，继续使用你们喜爱的服务。”