Country brief · Updated August 13, 2026
Using a VPN in Russia
VPN services that do not connect to the state blocklist registry are themselves blocked, and several major providers have been removed from local app stores.
Only approved services permitted
What actually matters here
Obfuscation, plus a provider incorporated outside the jurisdiction so it is not subject to local filtering orders.
Most country pages on the web recycle the same global ranking with a place name attached. This one filters on the capability that the situation in Russia actually calls for, which is why 2 of our 11 providers qualify rather than all of them.
Highest-scoring provider that meets it: Proton VPN, 90.0/100.
Visit Proton VPNWe earn a commission if you subscribe through this link. It does not change Proton VPN’s score.
The legal position
Legislation requires VPN and anonymiser services to connect to the federal blocked-sites registry and filter accordingly. Providers that refuse are subject to blocking. Using a VPN has not been criminalised for individuals, but promoting circumvention methods has been restricted.
This is a summary of publicly reported regulation, not legal advice. Rules in this area change without much notice and enforcement varies. If the consequences of getting it wrong are serious for you, check the current position locally.
What the network does
The regulator has deployed deep packet inspection equipment at operator level capable of throttling or blocking specific protocols. Blocking has been applied to named providers rather than only to protocol classes, so provider choice matters more here than protocol choice alone.
Retention and logging
Operators are required to retain communications content and metadata for defined periods and to make it available to authorities on request.
Providers that meet the requirement
| # | Provider | Based in | Protocols | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Proton VPN | Switzerland | WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2, Stealth | 90.0 |
| 2 | IVPN Unpaid | Gibraltar | WireGuard, OpenVPN | 82.5 |
Sources
Questions
- Is using a VPN legal in Russia?
- Only approved services permitted. Legislation requires VPN and anonymiser services to connect to the federal blocked-sites registry and filter accordingly. Providers that refuse are subject to blocking. Using a VPN has not been criminalised for individuals, but promoting circumvention methods has been restricted.
- Which VPN works best in Russia?
- Proton VPN on the requirement that matters here: obfuscation, plus a provider incorporated outside the jurisdiction so it is not subject to local filtering orders. 2 of 11 providers in our dataset meet it.
- Does the network block VPN traffic in Russia?
- The regulator has deployed deep packet inspection equipment at operator level capable of throttling or blocking specific protocols. Blocking has been applied to named providers rather than only to protocol classes, so provider choice matters more here than protocol choice alone.
- Are there logging or retention rules that affect me in Russia?
- Operators are required to retain communications content and metadata for defined periods and to make it available to authorities on request.