Applications developed by Russian company VK, including the Max messaging app, have been removed from Google Play, VK said.
The company noted that applications already installed on mobile devices will continue to function.
Earlier, U.S. company Apple removed VK applications from the App Store.
This week, the European Union imposed sanctions on VK and Max.
“According to numerous experts, the Max application has extensive surveillance capabilities and can monitor communications, including VPN usage, collect data on other applications installed on a phone, access address books, determine users’ locations and install updates autonomously.
The deployment and promotion of the Max application by the Russian state has been accompanied by repression and the blocking of other independent applications, such as WhatsApp and Telegram, as well as a campaign to restrict the use of VPNs, which enabled users to access content blocked in Russia,” the Council of the European Union said in explaining its decision.
