Russia Launches Large Scale Campaign to Block VPN Services

Russian authorities appear to have launched a massive wave of VPN blocking on August 4, affecting dozens of services. The Telegram channel Eksploit estimated that more than 20 popular VPNs were impacted, including Paper VPN, VPN Legend, GaMMa VPN, LTVPN, ABS, and FoxyBot. SecurityLab reported that the restrictions targeted IP addresses and entire subnets belonging to major hosting providers. Amnezia, a popular VPN service, also confirmed a new attack on tools used to bypass internet blocking.

Experts and observers have offered different theories on the methods used. Cyberlawyer Sarkis Darbinyan suggested that the federal media regulator, Roskomnadzor, may be using modules integrated into Russian apps to track VPN usage on user devices. Darbinyan also stated that Roskomnadzor began purchasing premium VPN accounts this spring to track servers. Mikhail Klimarev, director of the Society for Internet Protection, noted that authorities identified autonomous systems where VPNs are clustered and blocked all associated prefixes.

Leonid Volkov, a leader of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, described the event as the largest attack on independent VPN services in history. Volkov linked the timing of the blocks to upcoming elections in Russia. Separately, RBC reported that the Digital Development Ministry intends to tighten control over IP addresses for corporate VPNs, which are currently on a special exempt list.

Both reports come from center-left sources, and they frame the event as a systemic effort by the Russian government to eliminate tools used for bypassing state internet censorship.