Russia to Implement Access Restrictions for Users of Illegal VPNs from April 15
According to Russian business media RBC, the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media has requested major domestic internet platforms to implement access restrictions for users utilizing VPNs deemed "illegal" by authorities starting April 15. The ministry has sent a list of "illegal VPN IP addresses" pre-screened by the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) to over 20 leading platforms including Sberbank, Yandex, VK, Wildberries, Ozon, and Avito, along with a technical operations manual to guide platforms in detecting and intercepting additional VPN traffic not listed.
Reports indicate that platforms failing to restrict VPN user access as required may face the cancellation of IT industry tax incentives and the risk of being removed from the "whitelist" of websites. Authorities emphasized that proprietary "work VPNs" not used to access banned websites are not included in these restrictions, but distinguishing them technically still poses significant complexity for enforcement.
Source: Public Information
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这轮VPN封堵的本质，是将“平台私权利”升级为“国家审查接口”。传统审查主要依赖全国性DNS与IP封禁，而此次措施要求平台在自身用户层直接构建“访问控制墙”，借助平台对设备指纹、IP来源与流量特征的识别能力，把“突破防火墙者”在应用层内主动拦截。这种结构意味着审查成本从“国家网络层”向“企业资源层”转移，平台被迫以自身技术工具，承担国家网络主权的执行任务。
从制度结构看，这一指令将“互联网主权”从“对抗工具”转变为“管制工具”。在俄罗斯2017年禁止突破审查的VPN之后，民众大量转向境外商业服务与平台，使审查与日常经济、信息流动交织在一起。此次要求是官方首次对平台系统性提出“不许成为VPN通道”的明文要求，动摇了“数字中立平台”与“国家网络边界之间缓冲层”的存在。服务平台的“技术中性”正在被压缩，企业必须在“合规接入”与“监管认可”之间做出优先选择。
长期趋势上，这套“黑名单+检测指南”模式可能成为全球“数字主权国家”的标准样本：国家不再单靠基础设施封锁，而是通过立法与监管，将审查规则嵌入到平台本地的技术架构里。在这一结构下，VPN不再是单纯“隐私工具”，而是被正式定义为“平行网络通道”；而平台也不再只是“服务商”，而是“国家网络边界上的看门人”。这种转变，意味着互联网最终使用权的分配，开始在“主权与商业平台”的合作框架下，被重新书写。