LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - Apple ( AAPL ) has removed 25 virtual

private network (VPN) applications from its App Store in Russia,

the Interfax news agency said on Thursday, as Moscow cracks down

on services that help people circumvent online restrictions.

A Russian lawmaker said earlier that Apple ( AAPL ) had deleted Red

Shield VPN, Le VPN, Proton VPN and NordVPN in compliance with

orders from communications regulator Roskomnadzor.

Reuters reporters in Moscow confirmed that none of the four

VPNs were available for download from the App Store.

VPN Generator, a free Russian service, said another three

products had also been removed. Reuters could not independently

verify this.

Interfax did not specify which apps had been affected.

"Apple's ( AAPL ) actions, motivated by a desire to retain revenue

from the Russian market, actively support an authoritarian

regime," Red Shield VPN said in a statement.

"This is not just reckless but a crime against civil

society," it added.

Apple ( AAPL ) did not immediately respond to an emailed

request for comment on a U.S. public holiday.

Millions of people across Russia have downloaded VPNs to

bypass government censors and access content banned by

authorities. Around 150 VPNs are currently blocked and

Roskomnadzor wants to completely eliminate the services.

Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia has put dozens of

opposition media websites on blacklists and banned several

foreign social media platforms in a crackdown it casts as part

of an information war unleashed by the West after Moscow's 2022

invasion of Ukraine.

This has fostered a cottage industry of freelance

programmers and VPN companies working to build stronger tools to

evade censors.

"...Apple ( AAPL ) is one of the few American companies that strive

to comply with Russian legislation and maintain a dialogue with

the regulator," Anton Gorelkin, deputy head of the parliamentary

committee on information policy, said on Telegram.

"I am sure that this position is dictated by the desire to

officially return to the Russian market in the long term."

Moscow has clashed for years with Big Tech, including Apple ( AAPL ),

in disputes over content, data and censorship which escalated

after the start of the war.

Apple ( AAPL ) paused all product sales in Russia soon after the

Ukraine invasion and limited its Apple Pay service in Russia.

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