Apple Removes Kremlin-Backed Max Messaging App From App Store
Apple removed Russia’s state-backed messaging app Max from its App Store and cut off push notifications for calls and messages to iPhone users, escalating Western tech-sector pressure on Russian state infrastructure. The move comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin used the St Petersburg International Economic Forum to slam Western sanctions as damaging to the global economy. The Apple action is calibrated to constrain a Kremlin-controlled communications channel that had been promoted as a domestic alternative to Western messaging platforms.
The Russian state messaging app Max was promoted through 2026 as a domestic alternative to WhatsApp, Telegram and other Western platforms. The Apple App Store removal — combined with the cutting of push notifications — materially constrains the app’s utility on iPhones, which represent a significant share of urban-Russian smartphone use. The Kremlin’s strategic objective of cultivating a sovereign digital infrastructure faces direct Western tech-sector resistance. The action lands during the SPIEF flagship economic-diplomatic event Putin is hosting; ISW reports the Russian ultranationalist community presented extreme scenarios for Russia’s military future at the forum. The Apple action is one of multiple tech-sector pressures on Russian state infrastructure through 2026.