The Russian market was abandoned by Apple a few months ago, and the company has no intentions to return. Additionally, starting on Monday, several in-house applications—including VKontakte, a Russian substitute for Facebook—will be removed from the official App Store.

In addition to VKontakte, Apple has removed other apps from the same developer – Mail.ru, VK Music and Youla. Users who have already downloaded these apps will still be able to use them without restrictions, but notifications and payments may be affected. Of course, VKontakte is still available through desktop and mobile browsers.

Apple has released a statement outlining the rationale for the prohibition, which is connected to the referendums held in several regions of Ukraine. In response to the referendums, the UK government has imposed further sanctions on Russian billionaires and executives of many state-owned businesses. Because several of these executives work for VK, Apple stopped the developer account that is responsible for VKontakte, Mail.ru, and VK Music in accordance with international law.