Russia is tightening controls on VPNs through banks and apps
According to the investigation, banks and major apps in Russia have begun to identify VPN users en masse and share this data, which may be accessible to intelligence agencies. At the same time, the government is tightening its control over the internet and promoting its own digital services, effectively expanding the surveillance system, The Guardian reports.
Russia’s digital infrastructure increasingly resembles a system of total control, where ordinary mobile apps are turning into tools for collecting data on users attempting to bypass blocks. This is detailed in an investigation by the monitoring group RKS Global, cited by The Guardian.
According to the researchers, at least 22 of the 30 most popular apps in Russia—including services from major banks and tech companies—detect the presence of VPNs on users’ devices. These include apps such as those from T-Bank, Sberbank, Yandex, and VKontakte, which operate in the mass market and have access to significant amounts of personal data.
RKS Global emphasizes: “Any Android app released by Russian companies for the domestic market could now turn out to be spyware.” According to their data, the collected information may be stored on company servers to which government agencies potentially have access. Separately, the researchers draw attention to a shift in law enforcement practices regarding VPNs. Formally, the use of such services is not prohibited in Russia; however, in practice, courts are increasingly treating the very fact of their use as an aggravating factor or a cause for additional suspicion.
Mazai Banzaev, founder of the Amnezia service, describes the situation as an escalation of digital control: “It’s one thing if Russian IT companies were catching users while they were visiting a site with a VPN enabled. It’s quite another when even a closed app continues to scan the phone for VPN usage.”
In parallel with the technical tightening of control, Russian authorities are promoting their own digital ecosystems, which are gradually displacing alternative services. Following the blocking of certain messaging apps and disruptions in mobile connectivity, users are effectively being encouraged to switch to state-run or state-controlled platforms.
RKS Global experts conclude that the digital environment in Russia is rapidly transforming into a system where the line between commercial services and state oversight is becoming almost imperceptible, and user privacy is increasingly illusory.
Additionally, the Defense Forces refuted Russia’s claim regarding the occupation of the Luhansk region.
In the Pokrovsk direction, Russian forces have almost completely occupied Hryshyne
Additionally, on the morning of April 15, Ukrainian “Lyuty” strike drones attacked a petrochemical plant in the city of Sterlitamak, located in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russian Federation.
In the city of Sterlitamak in Bashkortostan, one of the centers of the chemical and petrochemical industry of the Russian Federation, an attack was recorded on facilities that may be associated with the production of components for military equipment.
