Sept 5 (Reuters) - Russia published a list of locally

developed social media, ride-hailing and other apps that it said

would keep working during its mobile internet shutdowns -

blackouts that have often been ordered to disrupt Ukrainian

drone attacks.

The list issued on Friday included online government

services, marketplaces, the Mir electronic payment system and

state-backed messenger MAX. It omitted rival foreign services

including Meta Platforms' ( META ) WhatsApp.

The Digital Development Ministry said it had a "special

technical solution" to let local apps keep going. "This measure

will reduce the inconvenience caused to citizens by mobile

internet shutdowns necessary to ensure security," it added.

It made no mention of Ukraine or drones. Governors from

Russian border regions have regularly said blackouts were needed

to disrupt assaults that use the internet to navigate to their

targets.

Russia has also been increasingly keen to promote home-grown

internet services and increase its control over the local online

space.

It has restricted foreign apps, part of a broader clash

between Moscow and foreign tech platforms that has intensified

since the onset of the war in Ukraine in 2022.

Online monitoring services reported an increase in Russian

internet users complaining about poor WhatsApp connectivity and

periodic mobile outages this summer.

The ministry said it had compiled its list by

identifying the "most popular and socially significant Russian

services and websites".

Its focus on local apps left out Alphabet's

YouTube and also WhatsApp, which was used by 97.6 million people

in Russia in July, according to Mediascope data.

Second in those rankings, with 90.9 million users, was

Telegram, a Dubai-based company founded by Russian-born Pavel

Durov that was also not on the government list.

The third-placed VK Messenger, an offering from

state-controlled tech company VK, reached 16.7 million

people, according to the data.

MAX, which was also developed by VK and now comes

pre-installed on all mobile phones and tablets sold in Russia,

said this week it had 30 million users.