Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the removal of the Max messenger from the Google Play app store “classic Western censorship”.
“Classic Western censorship”, the diplomat said.
The Max and VK applications previously disappeared from Google Play. Installed services and applications function normally without restrictions, VK noted. Along with VK and Max, the removed applications include Odnoklassniki, Mail and Zen.
Android device users will continue to receive push notifications for messages, events and calls in the Max and VK applications. “The VK and Max applications are available for installation in RuStore, Huawei AppGallery, Samsung Galaxy Store, Xiaomi GetApps and other Android app stores“, explained press service.
Earlier, Apple removed VK Holding's apps and the Max messenger from the App Store. VK said at the time that the company had done this unilaterally and without warning. Subsequently, iPhone users stopped receiving push notifications for new messages and calls in the messenger.