{
  "id": 17101039,
  "title": "Russia still hasn’t found an effective way to curb VPNs. Now officials are considering limits on all foreign internet traffic.",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/russia-still-hasnt-found-an-effective-way-to-curb-vpns-now-officials",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-29T17:36:19.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Meduza (English)",
    "slug": "meduza-english",
    "url": "https://meduza.io/en/cards/russia-still-hasn-t-found-an-effective-way-to-curb-vpns-now-officials-are-considering-limits-on-all-foreign-internet-traffic"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On October 27, Forbes reported that Russia's Digital Development Ministry is considering a new approach to curb VPNs by routing all foreign internet traffic through filtering equipment, effectively separating the Russian internet from the global internet at a technical level. The measures, which are still under review, may cap the amount of foreign data each user can consume. The proposal, which could be included in a telecommunications overhaul bill, has been discussed with industry players since the spring.\n\nThe earlier plan focused on limiting foreign traffic on mobile networks, but the new proposal extends to home internet connections as well. Previously, telecommunications providers were supposed to identify and limit foreign traffic by charging users extra if they exceeded 15 gigabytes of foreign data per month. Now, the ministry plans to impose the restrictions directly using TSPU equipment.\n\nThe aim is to combat VPNs that allow users to bypass Russian internet blocks. These services are generally based abroad and when users connect to one of these VPNs, their traffic becomes foreign, even when visiting Russian websites. However, Russian hosting providers were banned from serving VPNs, and plans are in place to create a register of violators who use Russian hosting for VPNs.\n\nThe specifics of the proposal remain unclear, such as what constitutes a foreign domain, potential exemption allowlists, and what happens when the quota is reached: disconnection, slower speeds, or an extra charge. Identifying foreign traffic is likely to be done using IP addresses, with Roskomnadzor using network address information to determine if a data packet originated from Russia or abroad.\n\nThe ministry's proposal, if adopted, could make it easier to slow and ration foreign traffic, potentially targeting VPN users the hardest. They would need to carefully choose their online activities, balancing between videos, games, social media, and other restricted services.",
  "summary": "On October 27, Forbes reported that Russia’s Digital Development Ministry is considering routing all foreign internet traffic through TSPU filtering equipment (TSPU is the Russian acronym for “technical means of countering threats”), effectively separating the Russian internet from the global internet at a technical level.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}