VPNs may be restricted in Russia. What is known
The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation is working on a package of measures to reduce the use of VPN services and is looking for compromise solutions that will limit the circumvention of locks without introducing direct bans for users. The initiatives were discussed on March 28 at a meeting with business representatives, and then developed in public statements by the department. How VPN regulation has changed in Russia and what new measures may lead to is in the Izvestia article.
What is being discussed now
On March 30, the head of the Ministry of Finance, Maksut Shadaev, announced that the agency was tasked with reducing the use of VPNs in Russia.
"The Ministry of Finance is an executive authority, and we are obliged to implement the tasks assigned to us. In this case, the task is to reduce the use of VPNs," he said in a letter to the We —IT association.
The minister stressed that the restrictions are related to the refusal of a number of foreign platforms to comply with Russian legislation.
"It took a long time, it was difficult, to no avail. Unfortunately. Once again, not just any wishes and wishlist, but the requirements of the adopted laws. It didn't work out," Shadaev said.
The minister separately noted that the department does not support the introduction of administrative responsibility for the use of VPNs as such. He called this option a "head-on solution" and stressed that the measures under discussion primarily concern restrictions on blocking circumvention tools, not ordinary users. Shadaev also said that the Ministry of Finance is ready to work out technical solutions, including issues of developer access and embedded payments.
In turn, Anton Gorelkin, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, said that a complete ban on VPNs was not being discussed. According to him, legislative initiatives relate only to cases when a VPN is used to commit offenses.
"I really hope that the Ministry of Digital Development will be able to find a compromise solution to the problem. It arose solely because of the unwillingness of some foreign platforms to comply with Russian legislation, and what the citizens are to blame for is a rhetorical question," he concluded.
What measures are being considered
In parallel, the authorities are discussing economic and technical instruments of influence. So, on March 30, it became known that the Ministry of Finance, at a meeting with telecom operators, considered the possibility of temporarily suspending payment for Apple services from a mobile phone account.
According to sources, we are talking about an attempt to encourage the company to return Russian services to the AppStore and comply with legal requirements, including the removal of VPN applications.
The Big Four operators — MTS, MegaFon, T2 Mobile and VimpelCom - have been instructed to disable the ability to top up their Apple ID from a mobile phone account starting on April 1.
The regulators' claims are related, among other things, to the fact that a significant part of transactions in the Russian segment of the AppStore account for VPN services that do not comply with Roskomnadzor's requirements for filtering prohibited content.
How is VPN operation regulated in Russia
The first serious steps to regulate VPNs in Russia were taken in 2019. Then Roskomnadzor sent demands to the largest services to connect to the federal state information system with a list of banned sites. Among the recipients were NordVPN, ExpressVPN, VyprVPN, IPVanish and other services.
The next stage of regulation began in February 2020. At that time, a ban was imposed in Russia on the use of blocking circumvention tools to access illegal content. This step did not mean a complete ban on VPNs, but it created a legal basis for blocking services that do not comply with the requirements.
By 2023, Roskomnadzor began to actively apply existing mechanisms. The expansion of the grounds for blocking and the use of technical means to counter threats have made it possible to restrict not only websites, but also circumvention tools, including VPN and Tor.
In February 2024, Roskomnadzor announced the introduction of a ban on the popularization of lock bypass services from March 1. The agency explained that it is not about banning the use of VPNs, but about blocking information that explains ways to circumvent restrictions or advertises such services.
At the same time, the government allowed Roskomnadzor to add sites containing information about ways to circumvent the locks to the register of prohibited information. The documents emphasized that resources with information about access methods to resources prohibited in Russia are subject to blocking.
By the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026, the restrictions became more extensive. Roskomnadzor began blocking not only individual services, but also technical protocols.
According to market data, by January 2026, 439 blocking services had already been restricted, which is 70% more than in October of the previous year. Since December 2025, the regulator has begun to actively block protocols such as SOCKS5, VLESS and L2TP. Technically, blockages are implemented through filtering Internet traffic by providers who analyze its characteristics.
What does this mean for users?
At the moment, using a VPN is not prohibited in Russia. However, there is a system of restrictions aimed at reducing access to services that allow you to bypass the blockages.
VPN services are required to filter prohibited resources. Otherwise, they themselves will be blocked. In addition, advertising and popularization of ways to circumvent restrictions are prohibited, and fines for such advertising can reach 500 thousand rubles for legal entities.
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