Russia’s Digital Development Ministry has directed internet services to block users who have VPN enabled, citing security concerns.

“This is being done to protect the data you enter on platforms. This is especially true for government services, where citizens’ personal data is stored. Most VPNs do not protect the privacy and personal data of users, and they are frequently used by malicious actors to intercept traffic and information,” the ministry stated, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.

The ministry also said a “special button” would soon appear on the Gosuslugi government services portal, letting users flag sites that ask them to disable VPN when they are not using one.

Separately, the Digital Development Ministry stated that Russian websites and services — including government portals, banks, marketplaces, and aggregators — remain accessible to users abroad, attributing any access problems to restrictions imposed by individual countries or providers blocking Russian services.

In late March, the Digital Development Ministry convened a meeting with the heads of major Russian companies at which the ministry’s head, Maksut Shadayev, told company executives that by April 15 they would be required to block users with VPN enabled. Companies whose services continued to work with VPN enabled were threatened with removal from “white lists” and the loss of IT accreditation from the Digital Development Ministry. By April 15, many Russian services had stopped working with VPN enabled. At the same meeting, Shadayev said the Digital Development Ministry had been tasked with reducing VPN use in Russia.