Restrictions continue: The Russian app “Yandex Pay” is no longer listed in the App Store
7 July 20:41
The “Yandex Pay” payment service app is no longer appearing in the App Store in a number of countries outside Russia, according to "Komersant Ukrainian", citing Russian propaganda media.
In the Russian section of the App Store, the app remains available for download and updates. When the region of an Apple account is changed to Russia, the service reappears in the catalog. Apple has not commented on the reasons for restricting access to the app. A Yandex spokesperson stated that “Yandex Pay” remains available in the Russian versions of the App Store and Google Play.
The Yandex Pay payment service was launched in 2021. The app allows users to manage linked bank cards, view transaction history, and check the balance of their virtual card.
This is far from the first restriction imposed on Russian apps. Due to anti-Russian sanctions, the state-owned messaging app Max was removed from the App Store on June 3. At the end of June, apps from the VK Group—VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, Zen, VK Video, VK Music, VK Messenger, Mail, and VK Dating—were removed from the App Store.
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Apple told the media that the Russian holding company’s services were removed from the App Store in accordance with sanctions legislation. The American corporation emphasized that it complies with the laws of the jurisdictions in which it operates.
Russian authorities are putting pressure on Apple. On July 1, 2026, the Federal Antimonopoly Service issued a warning to the company, demanding that it eliminate “discrimination” against Russian search engines and ensure that domestic software is installed on iOS devices by July 15, 2026.
“If a violation of the law on competition protection is established, according to a preliminary assessment, Apple faces a fine of up to 4 billion rubles,” the FAS statement said.
The warning was issued due to the company’s failure to comply with requirements to install Russian software, including the Max messenger and the RuStore app store.
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