Access is limited: popular services have partially stopped working for VPN users
Popular domestic Internet services (Yandex, VK, marketplaces, bank applications, and others) have partially stopped working for VPN users, Izvestia has confirmed. Earlier, the Ministry of Finance recommended that major online platforms restrict access to Russian resources by April 15 when using blocking circumvention tools. Experts point out that it is possible to identify a VPN only by indirect signs, so such measures do not always work correctly. About what changes should be expected, see the Izvestia article.
Which services have become unavailable to VPN users
The applications and websites of the largest Russian online services turned out to be partially inaccessible to those who use blocking circumvention tools. The correspondents of Izvestia were convinced of this. In particular, when the VPN is turned on, it has become impossible to access the resources of Yandex, VK and some marketplaces from a desktop computer. The editors sent inquiries to these organizations.
Applications from Sberbank, T-Bank, Yandex, a number of medical services and other resources practically do not open on mobile devices with a VPN. The situation depends on the type of additional tools: when using some, access is blocked, while others are not.
On smartphones, when you try to load a Yandex page with blocking bypasses enabled, it is reported that there is no Internet, the service asks you to reload the page, after which you can still access it, says Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group. Videos may not load on VK resources. At the same time, it is impossible to say unequivocally how the operation of additional access tools affects download failures — there may be situations when the message from the service "No Internet access" is associated with the disconnection of the mobile connection itself, he noted.
Also, users stopped opening official government websites that had remained accessible until recently. We are talking, in particular, about portals pravo.gov.ru and regulation.gov.ru . This may indicate a more targeted traffic filtering setup, when restrictions begin to affect not only external services, but also access to internal resources when using workarounds.
On April 13, users reported disruptions in the work of Sberbank, as well as Wildberries.
— The bank's systems are operating normally. For reasons beyond Sberbank's control, it may be difficult to use the app in some regions of Russia due to interruptions in mobile Internet access. We are working to ensure that access to the application is available even with the limitations of the mobile Internet," the press service of the credit institution noted.
The unavailability of services for individual users may be due to temporary difficulties with the Internet connection, Wildberries also noted.
As market sources told Izvestia, at the end of March, the Ministry of Finance held meetings with operators and Internet companies, where they were given recommendations on restricting subscribers' access to alternative connection methods. Among them is the blocking of access to Russian resources for users with a VPN starting from April 15. Sources and the media reported that Internet sites were also given recommendations on how to identify such programs. In particular, they stipulated that it is more problematic to identify such tools on the iPhone: the iOS operating system does not allow applications to collect data from other programs without permission.
Izvestia sent requests to the Ministry of Finance and Roskomnadzor, as well as major Russian banks, digital companies and marketplaces. According to the editorial source on the Internet market, the implementation of these measures is indeed planned from April 15.
In fact, the platforms have only one pragmatic scenario left — to restrict access to the server API, using their own technical capabilities to detect "unwanted" VPN traffic, thereby fulfilling the requirements of the regulator, said an interlocutor in the IT market. In his opinion, given the current economic situation, businesses are unlikely to be willing to risk government support measures, including tax incentives.
"Therefore, companies are likely to build a compromise model: not total blocking, but targeted application of restrictions at the infrastructure level, where it can be justified in terms of detection and regulatory requirements," the source said.
How to keep access to the necessary Russian and foreign resources
According to Sergey Pomortsev, an IT expert, it is possible to determine a VPN on a user's device only by indirect signs. At the same time, large online platforms in Russia are really capable of detecting such connections, relying on a combination of standard network analytics methods and anti-fraud systems.
First, the user's IP address is analyzed. Companies have access to databases that list address ranges belonging to VPN providers, data centers, and hosting companies. If a person logs in not from a "home" or mobile IP, but from an infrastructure typical of cloud services, this is already a signal. Secondly, geography and its consistency are taken into account. A sudden change of country or region between sessions (for example, "yesterday — Moscow, today — the Netherlands") looks abnormal, he noted. Such jumps are recorded and increase the risk score of the account.
Thirdly, network and behavioral characteristics are analyzed, as well as data about devices and user sessions, the expert listed. At the same time, none of these signs in itself is one hundred percent proof of the use of a VPN, he added.
At the same time, some Russians continue to use VPNs to access foreign online resources that have restricted work in Russia on the initiative of the developers themselves. Despite this, users still have alternative access methods. An illustrative example is the solutions of telecom operators offering access to foreign AI services through their own interfaces. So, Megafon and Beeline have already launched products with the integration of popular models, including DeepSeek, Gemini and ChatGPT, while access to them is provided without a VPN, sources in the telecom market told Izvestia.
MTS is developing a similar approach through the MWS GPT platform, where dozens of language models, including Chinese solutions, are available to businesses. The essence of this model is that access is "repackaged" within the Russian infrastructure: the user does not need to circumvent restrictions on their own, since interaction with foreign services is assumed by the operator.
Access to foreign resources for work and communication is in demand not only from individuals. So, on April 13, information appeared on the Network that the administrations of more than 20 Russian regions announced tenders for the provision of VPN services totaling about 300 million rubles. According to the procurement materials, such services are necessary, in particular, to notify the public.
At the same time, most people are unlikely to feel drastic changes after April 15, says Mikhail Pimenov, head of PR and media communications at Geltek Cyber Team. According to him, different ways of circumventing restrictions are already a common practice. However, as the expert noted, the number of checks from online services may increase, as well as cases when platforms block access to users. First of all, this will affect gaming resources, marketplaces and sites with strict anti-fraud systems.
— A year ago, few people expected large-scale restrictions and stricter control over VPNs. At the same time, the very fight against them and blockages is a costly process that requires significant resources. How effective it will be in the long run is an open question. Practice shows that if users need access to certain services, they usually find ways to save it," said Denis Kuskov, CEO of TelecomDaily.
Even the measures being discussed, such as limits on the amount of data transmitted, still leave room for maneuver, he believes. According to him, the conditional 15 GB, which was previously proposed to limit foreign Internet traffic, remains sufficient for everyday tasks, but for professional work — for example, with neural networks — this volume may no longer be enough. In such circumstances, users are likely to look for alternative solutions, both technical and service, he believes.
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