Apple brings Kremlin critic Navalny's app back to the Russian store

Created: 04/10/2022, 16:06

By: Bettina Menzel

Due to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the US company Apple decided to withdraw from Russia.

Now the tech giant is even bringing back an app that the Kremlin had previously removed.

© Thiago Prudencio/ZUMA Wire/Imago

Under pressure from the Kremlin, the tech company Apple removed an opposition app from the app store in 2021 - but it is now available again in Russia.

MOSCOW - At the start of Russia's 2021 parliamentary elections, tech giants Google and Apple removed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's app from app stores, bowing to pressure from the Kremlin.

After the outbreak of the Ukraine war, however, both companies took a stand and announced that they would withdraw from Russia.

The opposition app is now back in Apple's App Store, according to the

- Vladimir Putin has yet to react.

Apple: That's why the tech giant took the app for Russia out of the store

The app in question, known as Smart Voting, helped voters use their vote against Putin in the most effective way.

The idea: vote for any candidate who does not belong to the Kremlin party but has the best chances.

The opposition politician and Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny already presented his initiative in 2018.

The local elections in Moscow showed how effective the idea was.

The candidates loyal to the Kremlin lost many votes, from a total of 45 possible seats they received only 25 instead of the previous 40 seats.

At the same time, the app also provided the opportunity to obtain information independently of the state media.

During the parliamentary elections in 2021, Putin then increased the pressure on the tech companies.

The threat was that either the app would disappear from the store or personal criminal proceedings would be instituted against employees of Apple and Co. in Russia.

The tech giants therefore initially took the app offline.

According to the

, Google went back online shortly after the parliamentary elections, Apple only now.

The tech group from Cupertino initially left a request in this regard unanswered.

Ukraine war: Apple, Google and Co. announce withdrawal from Russia

Both Google and Apple - like many other companies - had stopped doing business with Russia because of the Russian war of aggression.

Apple suspended sales of its products in Russia.

The US company announced on March 1 that exports to all of the group's trade channels in the country had already been stopped.

The Apple Pay payment service and other services have also been restricted. 

In addition, customers could no longer access the online shop and no longer buy apps or make in-game purchases.

In Apple's map service in Ukraine, the display of traffic and current accident reports have been switched off to protect the country's citizens.

Google is also hiding this information in its maps app in Ukraine given the fighting and the advance of Russian troops.

So far, Russia has not blocked the Apple app store, but it has blocked the services of Twitter or Facebook.

A complete lock would make your smartphone unusable for iPhone users in the long run, since apps could not be updated.

Some observers believe that this could spark resentment against the Russian government.

But members of the opposition and US activists are also critical of shutting down the app store.

Because Western services and especially apps are important so that people in Russia can inform themselves independently.

, the Russian censorship authority has not yet managed to censor information that gets onto people's smartphones via pre-installed apps

.