Jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny's 'Smart Voting' app has disappeared from Apple and Google stores on Friday as Russians began voting in a three-day parliamentary election marked by a historic crackdown on the opposition.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that the app promoted an initiative that outlines for Navalny supporters which candidate they should back to unseat Kremlin-aligned politicians.

"Removing the Navalny app from stores is a shameful act of political censorship," top Navalny ally Ivan Zhdanov said on Twitter.

Russia had accused Google and Apple of election interference, demanding this week that they remove the app from their stores.