Following the revelation in late October that Russia had already blocked 167 VPN and over 200 email services due to security concerns, a document from the Russian Ministry of Transport has surfaced, naming additional VPN providers facing potential blocking. As reported by Torrentfreak, the document dated November 10, 2023, lists a total of 49 services earmarked for restriction.
The document highlights that these listed services pose a potential threat to the “stability, security, and integrity” of the Russian communication network.
Companies within the transportation sector have been instructed to notify the communications oversight authority, Roskomnadsor, if they use any of these services. The Ministry of Transport aims to ensure that the operational readiness of information services within the transportation sector remains intact.
The blockade is not limited to VPN providers alone
In addition to some lesser-known VPN providers, services like PureVPN, PrivadoVPN, Ivacy Private VPN, and Private Internet Access (PIA) are on the list. It is presumed that these mentioned providers do not cooperate with Russian authorities and offer users the ability to access resources prohibited in Russia.
The Russian Ministry of Digital Affairs recently stated that only services enabling such access will be blocked. The target date for these blocking measures is originally set for March 1, 2024. On this day, a new regulation is slated to come into effect, legitimizing VPN blockades in Russia.
However, the upcoming restrictions seem not limited to VPN services alone. Shadowsocks is also included in the Ministry of Transport’s list—a open-source Socks5-based proxy encrypting user traffic. The project was initially launched to help users bypass China’s Great Firewall. Whether Russian authorities will succeed in blocking it remains to be seen.
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