- A Russian official has announced plans to “reduce VPN use” in the country
- The measure includes new blocking obligations for websites and fees for users.
- Russia’s ongoing ‘great crackdown’ also targets Telegram
Russia has unveiled a new strategy to prevent citizens from using VPNs to bypass state-imposed blocks, including those affecting the popular messaging app Telegram.
In a letter shared on the state-controlled MAX app, originally reported by PakGazette, Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadaev said the government’s “task is to reduce the use of VPNs.”
Shadaev’s announcement also confirmed plans to restrict access to several additional foreign platforms, although the minister did not confirm which services would be affected.
Russian news outlet Kommersant reports that major digital platforms will soon be required to block users identified as using a VPN. Failure to comply could result in a platform being removed from the country’s “white list,” an official registry of approved websites accessible to the Russian public.
According to Forbes Russia, Shadaev also met with major telecom operators to discuss the introduction of a fee for VPN use. Specifically, the government is considering a surcharge for users who exceed 15 GB of international data per month.
During these discussions, Shadaev reportedly weighed the possibility of introducing administrative sanctions for the use of circumvention tools, although sources told Forbes that the minister expressed hope that such punitive measures could be avoided.
These developments follow the news that Apple has removed several custom VPN clients from the Russian App Store at the request of the state media regulator, Roskomnadzor.
As of January 2026, Kommersant data suggests that Roskomnadzor has already restricted more than 400 VPN services in Russia, which is a 70% increase compared to fall 2025.
Inside Russia’s “great crackdown”
While the Internet in Russia has long been under strict control, the Kremlin has significantly increased control in recent weeks.
Anonymous foreign diplomats in Russia have called the developments “the great crackdown” as residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg have completely lost mobile connectivity over the past fortnight, while public Wi-Fi hotspots in both cities have faced severe throttling.
The turning point began with the state blocking of Telegram. As one of the last major platforms still operating relatively freely in the country, Telegram has approximately 95 million users in Russia.
This massive reach is why the blocking campaign has drawn unprecedented criticism from a rare coalition of citizens, military officials and even high-ranking politicians, according to reporting in the New York Times.
However, Putin shows no signs of backing down. In February 2026, the Russian Parliament passed a law giving the Federal Security Service (FSB) the power to order specific communications blackouts at will.
While using a virtual private network (VPN) is not yet technically illegal, the trajectory of the Kremlin’s digital policy is clear. And with this, the battle against VPNs seems to intensify.
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