In Russia, the government has significantly increased surveillance and control over the Internet. After this, common people are facing many problems to use foreign apps and websites. Many Russian citizens now have two mobile phones each and access the Internet with the help of VPN.
Irina, a 41-year-old interior designer from Moscow, says that to talk to friends living abroad, she has to turn on VPN and use WhatsApp, because it is blocked in Russia. But when they have to book tickets on a government website like Russian Railways, they have to turn off the VPN, because many Russian websites do not allow access to VPN users. Apart from this, she keeps a separate phone to use the government app MAX.
Russia asked to leave foreign apps
The Russian government is asking people to abandon foreign apps and adopt government-backed apps. However, many people fear that the government can keep an eye on their activities through apps like MAX. For this reason some people keep it in a separate phone. Some officials have even removed the camera and microphone from such phones.
The use of VPN has increased rapidly. According to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, in March 2026, there were 92 lakh downloads of the most popular VPN apps from Google Play Store, which is 14 times more than last year. Never before has the use of VPN increased so rapidly in Russia.
What reason did Russia give for the internet ban?
After the start of the Ukraine war, Russia has tightened its control over the Internet. Mobile internet was kept closed for several days in many areas. The government says that Ukraine’s drones can use mobile networks, so this step was taken for security reasons.
The government has also reduced or blocked the speed of WhatsApp, Telegram and many foreign websites. In April, many government offices, banks and online shopping websites started blocking their services to people using VPNs.
What problems arose from the internet ban?
These restrictions have also affected the lives of common people. Online shopping, banking, transport and delivery services were affected due to internet shutdown. When navigation apps were down in Moscow, delivery workers had to rely on stores’ Wi-Fi. Even the sales of paper maps more than doubled.
Although some people have adapted to these changes, many Russian citizens believe that increasing restrictions on the Internet have made their digital life more difficult and complex than ever before.
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