Russians turn to VPNs to stay connected as online censorship tightens over Ukraine war

Almost two weeks into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian authorities have already banned over 200 websites, 300 foreign companies have pulled out of the country and fears are growing that the government may move towards disconnecting Russia from the global internet.

The Kremlin has cracked down on independent media by bringing in a new law making dissemination of "false information" punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Simply referring to the Russian invasion as a "war" instead of a "special military operation" is enough to fall afoul of these new rules.

To circumvent the censorship bearing down on the country, Russians are increasingly turning to VPNs - or virtual private networks - to keep channels open to information from outside Russia.

VPNs are a kind of software that creates an encrypted tunnel between the user and a remote server, changing the user’s unique IP address in the process and concealing where in the world their IP address is originating from.

"If a website is trying to block Russian traffic, you no longer appear to be Russian. It looks like you're coming from London or from Paris or anywhere in the world," Simon Migliano, head of research at Top10VPN, told Euronews Next.

VPN apps rose to the top of the App Store and Google Play in Russia last week as the government blocked social media sites.

According to data from Top10VPN, search traffic originating from Russia related to VPNs rose 633 per cent week-on-week.

At the time of writing, it is still possible to access banned social networking sites via VPNs in Russia but Migliano cautions that even while using VPNs, there are ways that states can still try and block websites.

"The Russian government will be desperately trying to block VPNs. It is possible to