Russia's Censor Body, Roskomnadzor, Wants to Block 92% of VPN Apps by 2030
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:
This directive - first uncovered by Russian independent journalist Maria Kolomychenko, and reported by the Russian version of Radio Free Europe - [site in Russian- Ed] marks a major escalation in the Kremlin's long-running effort to control what its citizens see online and cut them off from the open internet.
The subsidy document allocates roughly 20 billion rubles annually for the operation of ASBI. This figure corroborates a September 2024 report that authorities intended to spend 60 billion rubles (around $650 million) over the next five years to update its internet-blocking system.
A critical detail is that the Russian government hasn't defined what "92% effectiveness" actually means. Kolomychenko noted it could refer to the number of VPN applications removed from stores, the volume of traffic blocked, or the percentage of people unable to connect.
This marks a fundamental shift in how Russia governs the internet. Rather than chasing down individual services one by one, the state is now pouring money into the underlying network layer to build a permanent filter.
By placing these filters directly in the network path, Roskomnadzor aims to make bypassing blocks a constant uphill battle for users.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, censorship has expanded from specific news outlets to targeting major social media platforms and messaging tools.
Millions of websites have been blocked, and as of 2025, authorities have started cutting off mobile internet across entire regions. They've also officially blocked major platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram.
So far, more than 400 VPN services have been banned, with over 1,000 restricted, according to another Russian journalist, Aleksandar Djokic. This, even though it's still legal to use a VPN in Russia.
Starting April 15, 2026, major Russian service providers are legally required to detect whether a user is connected via a VPN, raising concerns about data privacy and potential future profiling.
At the same time, the Ministry of Digital Development is also pushing a new "foreign traffic tax". It would charge mobile users 150 rubles per gigabyte for any data over a 15GB monthly limit. This fee, which has been facing technical delays, hits the international routes VPNs rely on, making it too costly for most people to bypass the blocks.
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