Messaging, VPNs and blocking

Draft. Compiled from human rights groups' guides but not yet reviewed by a lawyer. This is not legal advice — check the linked sources and consult a lawyer.

• WhatsApp, Signal and Viber are blocked in Russia, Telegram works intermittently and mobile internet gets shut down. Save your lawyer's and rights groups' contacts outside Telegram in advance: email, Delta Chat, phone.
• Using a VPN is not banned by law. Since 1 September 2025, art. 13.53 CAO fines people for deliberately searching for material on the extremist list, including through a VPN.
• Blocking comes in waves, so specialists advise keeping two or three VPNs of different types and updating them in advance, not when the shutdown hits.
• The state messenger MAX has no end-to-end encryption, so don't discuss anything sensitive on it. A school cannot make you install MAX.
• Detailed guides: First Line (digital security section) and EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense in Russian.

current as of September 25. More: Mediazona: Russia's internet censorship in 2026 (foreign agent); Forbes: law on fines for searching for extremist material; OVD-Info: MAX at school (extremist); EFF: Surveillance Self-Defense