Russia blocks almost 200 VPN services, but the Kremlin still wants to use them

Almost 200 VPN services – 197 to beryllium precise – are now blocked successful Russia. An charismatic of nan country's infamous censor body, Roskomnadzor, proudly announced nan full connected Thursday, October 24, 2024, arsenic reported by Russian news agency Interfax.

Ironically, though, authorities want to support utilizing this celebrated information software. As Russia's independent news outlet Novaya Gazeta reported, nan Kremlin has spent complete 14 cardinal rubles (about $145 million) this twelvemonth to acquisition VPN connections for authorities use.

A VPN, short for virtual backstage network, is simply a information instrumentality that encrypts users' net connections and masks their existent IP reside location. The 2nd of these features is peculiarly useful to Russians who wish to usage VPNs to bypass stringent net restrictions – precisely what nan authorities are seeking to prevent.

In fact, Sergey Khutortsev, nan Roskomnadzor official, said specifically that nan authorities person only banned VPN services "used arsenic a intends of bypassing blocking".

The conflict against VPN successful Russia

Roskomnadzor's conflict against these apps is thing caller but nan standard of Russia's VPN blocking efforts is decidedly intensifying.

The first wide VPN blocking campaign took spot successful 2021, pinch nan likes of ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and IPvanish each falling foul of Russia's scope astatine that time. Things took different measurement connected aft nan warfare successful Ukraine began successful 2022.

2024 has been a large twelvemonth for nan Kremlin's crusade against VPNs successful Russia. Since March, a new law has criminalized nan dispersed of accusation astir ways to circumvent net restrictions – VPNs included.

About 60 VPN apps silently disappeared from nan Apple App Store successful Russia betwixt early July and September, bringing nan full to 98 unavailable applications successful nan Big Tech giant's charismatic store.

In September 2024, authorities besides announced plans to invest complete half a cardinal US dollars to beef up its censorship strategy against VPN usage.

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