Apple Removes Popular VPN Services at Roskomnadzor's Request

Several VPN services have disappeared from the Russian App Store, including popular apps like Red Shield and Proton. According to the official Red Shield account on the X social network, the apps were removed at the request of Roskomnadzor.

"Apple, at the request of Roskomnadzor, removed the Red Shield VPN app from the Russian App Store. We are aware of at least one other VPN app that was removed at the same time as ours," Red Shield explained.

A Kholod correspondent has verified that at least four VPN services are not available in the Russian App Store: Proton, Red Shield, as well as Le VPN and NordVPN.

Russian authorities have been fighting VPN services for years, considering them a tool for bypassing blockages and accessing information prohibited in Russia.

Since March 1, a law has been in effect in the country prohibiting the popularization of means and methods for bypassing blocking. This document has given Roskomnadzor new powers. Now the service can, on its own initiative, block resources that, in the opinion of the agency, contain information on ways to bypass blocking. This also applies to the Play Market and App Store app stores.

In 2023, Apple removed 12 apps from the App Store at the request of the Russian authorities, and seven in 2022. At the same time, in 2022, Russia took first place in the world in terms of the pace of VPN service implementation. In October last year, the Agency reported that the country was increasingly blocking VPN services using the WireGuard protocol, which is considered one of the most convenient and widespread.

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