What is MAX, the state-owned app Russia’s Vladimir Putin is trying to replace WhatsApp with?

What is MAX, the state-owned app Russia’s Vladimir Putin is trying to replace WhatsApp with?

Russia has ordered its officials to switch over to the Max app by September 1. Moscow has, in recent years, been trying to reduce its use of foreign apps such as Telegram, WhatsApp, and YouTube. Russia, after the invasion of Ukraine, designated Meta – which owns Facebook and WhatsApp – as an ‘extremist organisation’. What is the Max app?

Russian President Vladimir Putin has given Russian officials until September 1 to switch over to Max. Reuters