Apple bans Ukrainian app showing Russian army death tolls

The Ukrainian developer Alty has received a warning from Apple regarding its iOS app, which shows losses of the Russian army in manpower and equipment. Apple has demanded to remove data on the number of dead Russian military personnel, or they will remove the app.

• Alty Inc., jointly with the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has launched a mobile application for tracking casualties of the invaders, called Russian warship go fuck yourself (РКИН). The main screen displays the number of losses by individual categories, including losses of enemy personnel.
• According to the company, after the English-language localization of the application, Apple requested to remove the data on death tolls. First, the company asked to remove all data, but after negotiations with the developer and an appeal against this decision, they left the requirement for manpower losses:

“Apple called our app potentially objectionable content based on the company’s ethical policy. We had a long argument with Apple, gave all the supporting data from open sources, and told them about the cooperation with the AFU and their “blessing“ to create this application. But the company delivered an ultimatum: either we remove these statistics, or they remove the application from the store,” the company told AIN.Capital.

As Alty explains, the company has to accept these requirements to keep the app. But it has been receiving a lot of questions from users who are concerned about this decision.

“We understand the users very well, but we can’t do anything about it yet. We are still negotiating with Apple to get this data back. There are already a few ideas for them to consider, but whether they will accept them, unfortunately, it is difficult to say right now,” the company says.