As Russia continues to crack down on VPN usage, some censorship-resistant providers seem to be resisting the latest wave of restrictions.

In a post on X shared on Monday (April 27), Maxim Katz, a prominent Russian opposition figure who tracks VPN connectivity in the region, recorded that the most popular VPN services in Russia "are working just fine overall," arguing that "VPNs have adapted."

Authorities are working hard to reverse this trend of circumvention — but the tech seems to continue outsmarting the politics.

How are VPN adapting

Most Western VPNs are well-known for not working in Russia. TunnelBear, for example, is consistently flagged as "not working" across all types of internet connections on Katz's list.

According to Katz, this is because Russia isn't the main market for mainstream services; hence, many of these don't usually focus their resources on keeping up with the constant changes in Russian censors' detection and blocking techniques.

"For this reason, the most popular VPN in Russia are made by Russians living abroad. And these VPNs work specifically in making the internet work for Russians," Katz told TechRadar.

BlancVPN, the company explains on its website, is a project launched in 2018 as a "Telegram proxy solution" to protect freedom of speech in countries such as Russia and Iran, where Telegram faces restrictions.

Over the years, the team has been working on its censorship-resistant abilities. In 2021, for example, it added support for the Outline protocol and, two years later, also for the open-source obfuscated V2Ray proxy.

Now, in its latest Android update released on April 14, BlancVPN added new features designed to evade the ongoing Russian blocks.

These include two specialized VPN protocols (Xray and Xray Extra) and a "Disable VPN for Russian services" option to let users open local banking apps, marketplaces, and government sites without a VPN. Similar tools landed on iOS on April 15.

Through its Telegram channel, Armenia-based VPN Liberty is also constantly offering guidance and new tools to help Russian residents navigate the complicated online landscape.

The latest round of releases was rolled out today (April 29) and includes an upgrade to its current solution against what's known as 'whitelisting.' That refers to a more disruptive censorship technique that blocks content, communication, or internet access by default. The improved version is now live on Android, with iOS support still in development.

Similar to BlancVPN, VPN Liberty also added a new way to exclude Russian websites from the VPN tunnel, without the need for manual configuration.

AmneziaVPN, a provider we often see to be reliable in Russia, appears to be working only on certain mobile connections as of today. When we checked on Tuesday (April 28), Katz's data flagged it as "partially working."

That said, the team at AmneziaVPN is also constantly boosting its censorship-resistant features.

At the end of March, for example, it released a more powerful version of its flagship stealth protocol, AmneziaWG, exactly to keep the internet accessible in highly censored regions.

We have contacted AmneziaVPN for comments, and we will update the page as more information becomes available.

That said, these constant changes in VPN connectivity levels are a stark reminder that no solution is guaranteed to work forever. Exactly the reason why Telegram's CEO, Pavel Durov, urges people in the country to "stock up on VPNs."

A political shift

As more people turn to VPN services — Novaya Gazeta reported that VPN downloads are 14 times higher than last year — the Kremlin has been doubling down on its crackdown, as hard as ever before.

At the end of March, Russia's Minister of Digital Development, Maksut Shadaev, announced a new plan to "reduce VPN usage." This includes new blocking obligations for Russian internet service providers and even some fees for VPN users.

Starting April 15, major providers are required to actively detect and block VPNs to avoid having their IT accreditation revoked. The introduction of VPN fees, however, has been delayed for alleged "technical hurdles."

Earlier this week, local news outlet Meduza reported that Shadaev claimed that VPN blocking is necessary to protect Russians' personal data. Another report cites the Head of Russia’s Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, Valery Fadeyev, deeming VPN use as "something unnatural."

A recent State Duma proposal is also considering creating a 'whitelist' of approved VPNs to minimize inconvenience for citizens and businesses who rely on stable internet connections for work.

The Kremlin's fight against VPN usage has officially entered a new phase. Yet, Katz remains hopeful that the tech would remain stronger than the politics.

"The VPN industry is a rich and profitable business that hires the best technical people to fight Roskomnadzor," Katz told TechRadar, arguing that "nobody wants to work" for Roskomnadzor. "They can hire somebody, but the level of their side remains lower than the level of our side," he added.

A constant cat-and-mouse game, then, that — for now, at least — the VPN industry seems to keep finding ways to remain a step ahead.

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