Downloads of the VK app, Russia’s answer to Facebook, have surged after the Kremlin throttled the loading speed of videos to YouTube, The Moscow Times reported on August 7.

In the last week, the video streaming platform of Russian social media company VK has experienced a significant surge as loading speeds of YouTube have been cut by 70% in some regions.

The Russian rival site, RuTube, has also seen the number of users surge, as punters search for alternatives to YouTube, which remains the most popular video hosting platform in Russia.

“VK Video app downloads rose 4.5 times in the first week of August compared to July’s monthly average, reaching more than 250,000 downloads per day,” the state-run news agency TASS quoted the tech company’s press service as saying.

Apple’s App Store and Google Play have both listed VK Video among their top downloaded apps, a notable rise after the app had remained outside the top 20 for the past two months.

Users across Russia began reporting issues with YouTube download speeds last week after authorities demanded that Google, YouTube's owner, restore around 200 pro-government channels.

Google has denied Russia’s claims that the YouTube slowdown was "the result of any technical issues or actions on our part." Previously, Russia’s state-owned telecom giant had warned that Google’s withdrawal of equipment from the country would degrade the playback quality of YouTube videos.

The Kremlin has tightened control over internet and media freedoms in recent years, as YouTube has become a vital platform for dissenting viewpoints in the country.

As bne IntelliNews reported, the Kremlin seems to be manoeuvring to take control of or increase its influence over, the largest Russian internet companies: the equivalents of Facebook (VK), Amazon (Wildberries), and Google (Yandex).