From July 16, 2026, Russian iPhone users are massively reporting the unavailability of the App Store. According to the international project OONI, the share of abnormal connections to Apple resources in Russia has grown to 37-39%, and for the official website of the company has exceeded 65%. The service «Failure.rf» records hundreds of complaints daily - from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov region, Udmurtia and other regions.

On the morning of July 20, the situation has not changed. Stable access to the App Store is maintained only through VPN - and failures are recorded even for those who are abroad with a Russian VPN enabled. The official Apple website also does not open without bypassing blocks since mid-July.

Roskomnadzor denies any restrictions. However, the chronology of events is indicative: at the end of June, Apple without warning removed from the Russian App Store applications VK and messenger MAX. In response, the FAS issued an ultimatum - by July 15 to pre-install RuStore, return the deleted applications and include Russian search by default. Apple ignored the deadline. The very next day, July 16, mass failures began.

Now the company faces a fine of up to 4 billion rubles and the threat of a full-fledged antitrust case. The Ministry of Digital Affairs openly discusses retaliatory measures. There is still no direct evidence of targeted blocking - officially it is «technical problems with individual providers». But five days of escalating failures immediately after the expiration of the FAS deadline leave little room for coincidence.

The outcome of the confrontation between Apple and Russian regulators is still ahead - and it depends on whether the App Store will remain accessible for millions of iPhone owners in Russia.

#AppStore
#Apple
#Russia
#VPN
#Roskomnadzor
#FAS
#RuStore
#blocking
#technology
#Brick