Russian telecom operators have begun implementing a new strategy against VPN services: instead of mass blocking, they are now using targeted restrictions on individual IP addresses, making bypassing the blocking less profitable for users.
Russian telecom operators have switched to a more selective method of restricting VPN traffic. According to the Telegram channel Mash, blocks are now applied not to an entire group of IP addresses, but to specific addresses detected bypassing restrictions.
Previously, the scheme worked differently: if an IP address was whitelisted by hosting providers like Selectel, Yandex, or VK Cloud, access to the entire group of addresses was automatically opened. VPN services actively took advantage of this, placing their servers on such sites and disguising traffic as normal.
Now operators act more selectively – they allow access only to certain IPs, while neighboring addresses in the same infrastructure can be blocked. As a result, VPN traffic stops being “lost” in the allowed flow and begins to be counted in the user’s main data packet.
Experts note that this strategy does not require complete blocking of VPN protocols, but makes their use less convenient and more expensive for the end user.
