Russia Sues Apple Over Refusal to Preinstall Domestic Apps on iPhones

Perspective Analysis

Russia’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service opened a formal antitrust case against Apple on August 3 after the company failed to preinstall the state-backed Max messaging app and the domestic RuStore marketplace on devices running iOS. The regulator stated that Apple had received a warning in early July and was given until July 15 to comply with requirements for domestic software preinstallation. Apple enabled preinstallation of a Russian search engine in an updated software version released July 27 but did not implement the requirements for Max or RuStore. The FAS cited Russia’s Competition Protection Law and noted that prior enforcement actions against Apple had been upheld by Russian courts. If the investigation finds a violation, Apple could face an administrative fine of up to 4 billion rubles under the Code of Administrative Offenses.

The case rests on Russian rules that require technically complex electronic devices sold in the country to support a search engine from Russia or another Eurasian Economic Union member state as the default option. The FAS had previously warned Apple to remove what it described as discriminatory conditions affecting Russian search engines and to allow preinstallation of the national messenger and domestic app store. Apple removed Max from its Russian App Store in late June along with several VK-developed apps, citing sanctions compliance. The company had already suspended official sales and shipments to Russia in 2022 following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with devices now reaching the market through parallel imports.

Russian reporting centers on enforcement of these domestic requirements. Pravda reported that the FAS launched the case because Apple did not fully comply with the warning to eliminate discriminatory practices and enable preinstallation of the national messaging platform and Russian app marketplace. It noted that the decision follows established practice and that competition authorities in several countries, including BRICS members, are reviewing similar complaints from consumers and developers. The outlet added that failure to meet the July 15 deadline could result in formal proceedings and fines up to 4 billion rubles. Moscow 24 described the action in direct terms: the FAS opened the case because Max and RuStore are not preinstalled on iPhone and iPad devices, and the regulator referenced the law on protection of competition along with earlier court-confirmed practice against Apple. It recorded that Apple had informed the service of the search-engine update but made no mention of Max or RuStore compliance. The exiled Moscow Times reported the same sequence of warning, partial compliance on the search engine, and ignored requirements for the messenger and app store, adding that Apple faces a possible fine of up to 4 billion rubles, or roughly 49.6 million dollars.

Western and Turkish coverage places the same events in a longer sequence of regulatory friction. 9to5Mac reported that Russia has required domestic apps on devices since a 2019 law, with a 2021 arrangement allowing a list of recommended Russian apps during setup rather than automatic installation. It detailed that after the 2022 invasion Apple halted sales and removed certain Russian state media apps, then later removed additional VK apps citing British sanctions. The outlet noted that Russia began requiring the state-backed Max messenger to be preinstalled on new smartphones and tablets last year and extended the RuStore requirement to Apple devices, which Apple did not meet. It stated that the FAS ordered Apple to address discriminatory treatment by July 15, that Apple partially complied on the search engine, and that the new case followed the incomplete response. Yeni Şafak reported that the FAS opened the investigation because Apple did not lift restrictions on domestic search engines and applications, that the company had been given until July 15 to act, and that a fine of up to 4 billion rubles, approximately 50 million dollars, could follow. It recorded Apple’s June removal of Max and multiple VK apps from the App Store.

All five outlets that published detailed accounts agree on the central sequence and figures. The FAS opened the case, Apple met the search-engine portion of the warning but not the Max and RuStore portions, and a fine ceiling of 4 billion rubles applies. No source disputes the July warning date, the July 27 search-engine update, or the June app removals. The accounts therefore rest on a single corroborated factual spine rather than competing versions of events.

The outlets differ in the context they supply and the emphasis they place on motivation. Pravda frames the requirements as necessary to give Russian users access to national applications and notes broader international scrutiny of Apple’s practices. Moscow 24 limits itself to the regulator’s statements and the text of the competition law. The Moscow Times links the case to authorities’ efforts to increase state oversight of the digital sector. 9to5Mac situates the action inside Apple’s documented decisions to suspend sales and remove apps after the 2022 invasion and subsequent sanctions. Yeni Şafak reports the penalty figure and the investigation without attaching a broader domestic or sanctions narrative.

No outlet claims that the case will change global app-distribution rules. The Russian sources present it as an application of existing national law. 9to5Mac presents it as the latest step in a bilateral regulatory standoff. The Turkish report treats it as an instance of enforcement with a quantifiable financial exposure. These differences track the outlets’ established positions: state-aligned Russian coverage stresses compliance with domestic mandates, the exile Russian outlet records the regulatory mechanics, the U.S. technology site tracks Apple’s sanctions-related choices, and the Turkish outlet records the monetary scale from an external vantage.