Russia threatens Apple and Google with fines over app created by jailed dissident Alexey Navalny's allies

Moscow — Russia's government internet censors have threatened to hit Apple and Google with fines if they don't delete an app developed by jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny's team. The app urges Russian voters to defeat President Vladimir Putin's ruling party in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Navalny's movement was formally labelled an "extremist" organization by Russian authorities over the summer, putting him and his supporters in the same ranks as al Qaeda and the Taliban in the eyes of Russian law. In February, Navalny was immediately arrested upon return to Russia from Germany, where he spent months recovering from a poisoning attack that he and U.S. officials accuse Putin himself of ordering. His jailing prompted mass protests across the country, resulting in thousands of arrests.