Apple has started removing more VPN-related apps from the Russian App Store.
The latest wave includes Streisand, V2Box, v2RayTun, Razze and Happ Proxy Utility. These apps don’t provide built-in VPN access. Instead, they allow users to connect using their own configuration files.
According to the developers of v2RayTun, the removal was requested by Roskomnadzor, Russia’s internet censorship agency. Apple appears to have complied and there is nothing that developers can do at this point.
This is not the first time Apple has taken down VPN apps in Russia. In the past, most removals targeted commercial VPN services that offered paid access.
Now the focus has shifted. Apps that don’t offer any servers on their own, and only act as tools for user-managed connections, are being removed as well.
For iPhone users in Russia, this is a serious escalation. If even these basic tools disappear, setting up a private connection becomes much harder.
This looks like the next step in tightening control over VPN access. First, ready-made solutions were targeted. Now even the tools needed to configure your own connection are being taken away.
If you’re affected by this, one simple workaround is to use an Apple account registered in another country, where these apps are still available. US or EU based accounts are the best option.
What makes this worse is that Apple continues to comply with these requests, even though it has no real obligation to enforce local censorship at this level. Instead of pushing back, it’s helping censorship machine.