Apple restores Russia-backed apps to App Store: report
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Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has restored some Russian apps to its App Store, The Guardian reported, just three weeks after it removed them for sanction violations.
The tech giant re-added Russian social network VKontakte, along with email provider Mail.ru, both created by Russian company VK. VKontakte has more than 75M monthly active users and is the country's largest social network.
It is unclear why Apple (AAPL) reinstated the apps. Apple (AAPL) did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha.
The app were removed in late September as the company said in a statement at the time they were "being distributed by developers majority-owned or majority-controlled by one or more parties sanctioned by the UK government.â
At the time of the removal, Roskomnadzor, Russia's communications regulator, said Apple's (AAPL) action to remove VK's apps deprived Russian citizens of access and asked for a reason why the apps were removed.
"The agency believes that such discriminatory restrictions, which violate the right of Russian internet users to freely receive information and communicate, are unacceptable," Roskomnadzor said in a statement at the time. 
Along with Vkontakte, VK's email service, Mail.ru, must be pre-installed on all mobile devices sold in Russia.
Apple shares rose 1.6% to $144.70 in premarket trading.
Apple (AAPL) is set to announce a new version of its iPad Pro in a "matter of days," according to recent media reports.