Apple restored Russian social network VKontakte to the App Store

Apple removed VKontakte and Mail.ru from the App Store last month, citing UK sanctions. It’s unclear what changed before Apple brought the apps back last week.

Apple has reinstated the apps made by the Russian technology group VK on the App Store, as reported earlier by The Guardian. The company removed the VK-owned social network VKontakte, email app Mail.ru, and others last month in response to sanctions the UK put on the financial institutions that own the Russian firm. According to the Russian outlet Interfax, the apps returned to the App Store late last week. It’s not clear why Apple has chosen to restore the VK-owned apps right now; as The Guardian notes, there hasn’t been an ownership change at VK.

At the time, Apple confirmed it blocked the apps globally because they’re “distributed by developers majority-owned or majority-controlled by one or more parties sanctioned by the UK government.” Apple didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.

VKontakte, the Russian equivalent of Facebook, is one of the most popular social networks in the country. Last year, Russia started requiring Apple to ship its iPhones with a list of Russian-made apps that users can install as part of the setup process, including VKontakte and Mail.ru. In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Apple stopped selling its products in the country, and users became barred from using Apple Pay due to the sanctions put on several Russian banks.