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The Best VPNs for Russia

Updated Mar 9, 2026

Simon Migliano

Simon Migliano is a recognized world expert in VPNs. He's tested hundreds of VPN services and his research has featured on the BBC, The New York Times and more. Read full bio

Fact-checked by JP Jones

The Short Answer

The best VPN for Russia, whether you’re traveling or live there, is without a doubt Astrill. It has an unbelievable 100% success rate at bypassing aggressive Russian internet blocks, which no other VPN can match. Astrill is also one of the few VPNs that offers Russian IP addresses. Windscribe is a good free alternative that still works in Russia, but it comes with several limitations compared to Astrill.

Russian flag next to a smartphone with a shield icon, representing using a VPN in Russia.

If you’re living in or traveling to Russia, you must use a secure and trustworthy VPN with a proven track record of bypassing aggressive internet censorship.

Russia has blocked thousands of websites in recent years, including many international news websites and social media platforms.

Roskomnadzor, the country’s internet censorship agency, has also targeted VPNs, blocking roughly 200 services, including popular names like ExpressVPN and NordVPN.

Summary: The Best VPNs for Russia

Of the 61 VPNs we tested, only these two are yet to be blocked and still work reliably in Russia:

Astrill: Best VPN for Russia Overall
Mullvad: Cheap VPN for Russia
Windscribe: 100% Free VPN for Russia

Why Trust Us?

We’re fully independent and have been reviewing VPNs since 2016. Our ratings are based on our own testing results and are unaffected by financial incentives. Learn who we are and how we test VPNs.

VPNs Tested	61
Total Hours of Testing	30,000+
Combined Years of Experience	50+

Thanks to their VPN obfuscation protocols, these two VPNs are still able to sidestep the OpenVPN, WireGuard, and standard TLS proxy blocks used by Russian ISPs.

EXPERT ADVICE: We recommend installing two VPNs onto your device(s) before you travel to Russia, as downloading a VPN inside the country can be challenging.

The Best VPNs for Russia Compared

Use the table below to compare the best VPNs for Russia based on their ability to bypass web censorship, obfuscation technology, logging policy, and more.

1. Astrill: Best VPN for Russia

Ranked #1 out of 61 VPNs for Russia

Astrill

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Overall Russia Rating: 9.3/10

Bypassing Russian Censorship
10/10
Obfuscation Technology
9.8/10
Speed
7.8/10
Privacy
8.3/10
Security
8.3/10
Nearby Servers to Russia
9.2/10

To learn more, read our VPN testing methodology.

StealthVPN beats Russian internet restrictions
Nearby servers for faster internet speeds
Relatively easy to set up & use
Kill switch & no IP, DNS, WebRTC leaks
Accepts anonymous payment methods

Expensive compared to rivals
No money-back guarantee
No free trial
No diskless (RAM-only) servers
No transparency reports, warrant canary, or audit
Dated-looking software interfaces

Pricing Plans	$30.00/mo $15.00/mo over 12 months $12.50/mo over 24 months
Servers	107
Countries with Servers	57
Logging Policy	Identifiable Data

Jurisdiction	Liechtenstein
Simultaneous Connections	5
Support	24/7 Live Chat
Compatible with	Windows Mac iOS Android Linux Amazon Fire TV Android TV Apple TV Router Chrome

Astrill bypasses internet censorship in Russia effectively through its proprietary StealthVPN protocol.

Moreover, the VPN uses AES-256 and ChaCha20 encryption, and doesn’t suffer from any IP or DNS leaks. It’s also based in Liechtenstein, a privacy-friendly country, though not a privacy-haven.

Astrill does have drawbacks, though. Though it’s exceptional for circumventing internet firewalls, it’s considerably more expensive than most other services on the market.

We used Astrill VPN to unblock YouTube in China.

Extremely Effective Anti-Censorship VPN

Astrill has earned itself a strong reputation for its outstanding ability to beat the most sophisticated internet restrictions.

Even in China, the VPN has never failed to bypass the Great Firewall in our tests.

StealthVPN uses QUIC/UDP-based obfuscation which evades Russia’s ISP-level blocks entirely, since those blocks target TCP-based protocols.

With StealthVPN enabled, traffic looks like HTTP/3 and the VPN server returns a typical web page response to evade VPN handshake detection.

As a result, we easily accessed popular websites blocked in Russia like YouTube, Facebook, and X (Twitter).

Using Astrill’s StealthVPN protocol.

Astrill also provides a mirror download link to help you download the VPN from within Russia.

Moreover, since Astrill isn’t as popular as other VPN providers, it isn’t targeted as aggressively by the Russian government.

While Astrill’s logging policy is reasonably private, the service does temporarily retain your originating IP address during your VPN session, as well as connection timestamps.

That said, the VPN won’t log what you do online, such as the websites and apps you use.

Excellent Settings to Bypass Firewalls

Astrill offers a wide range of settings to improve your internet connection’s encryption and security.

There are four different tunneling protocols available, a working kill switch on all devices, and effective DNS leak protection.

The service also routes all traffic through its own DNS servers, and never through potentially less-secure third-party servers.

A setting that can be useful is ‘Smart Mode’, which automatically uses your VPN IP address on international websites, but your real one for local services. A sort of automated VPN split tunneling setting.

Clunky & Unappealing Apps

Alongside its expensive price tag, the biggest drawback of using Astrill is its visually unappealing apps across all platforms.

Astrill VPN Protocol Settings on Android

Its old-fashioned and clunky interface can put off most people at first – from VPN beginners to experts.

The mobile apps are slightly better designed, but the desktop software is quite frankly ugly.

How to Use Astrill in Russia

As we’ve already said, Astrill isn’t the prettiest app, but there are great options for customizing your connection for Russia to bypass the sophisticated protocol-level filtering used by local ISPs.

How to Use Astrill in Russia

Launch the Astrill app.
Select StealthVPN from the drop-down menu of protocols.
Pick a server in a nearby country like Finland or Latvia for the best balance of speed and unblocking.
Or, use the Moscow or St. Petersburg servers to access local Russian content securely.

To download Astrill while inside Russia, the official website is often blocked, but its mirror (copy) domain www.getastr.com is still accessible.

Get Astrill

2. Mullvad: Cheaper VPN for Russia

Mullvad VPN

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Get Mullvad

Overall Russia Rating: 9.2/10

Bypassing Russian Censorship
9.0/10
Obfuscation Technology
9.5/10
Speed
8.7/10
Privacy
9.3/10
Security
9.7/10
Nearby Servers to Russia
9.0/10

To learn more, read our VPN testing methodology.

A lot cheaper than Astrill
QUIC obfuscation protocol works in Russia
Multi-hop servers
IPv6 support to avoid leaks
Cash payments available
Free privacy-focused web browser

Small server network
No Chrome extension
Doesn't unblock most streaming services

Pricing Plans	$5.50/mo
Servers	674
Countries with Servers	50
Logging Policy	No Identifiable Data

Jurisdiction	Sweden (14 Eyes Member)
Simultaneous Connections	5
Support	Email & Online Resources
Compatible with	Windows Mac iOS Android Linux Amazon Fire TV Android TV Apple TV Router Chrome

Mullvad has made huge strides in terms of VPN obfuscation and censorship circumvention.

While it struggled in the past, it’s quickly emerging as a solid alternative to Astrill at bypassing Russia’s modern VPN blocking technology.

It’s still not as effective as its rival, but it only costs $5.50 a month, which is a lot more affordable.

Using Mullvad’s QUIC obfuscation method.

Greatly Improved Obfuscation Technology

Mullvad offers several advanced obfuscation tools to bypass censorship, though its effectiveness varies significantly by region.

Mullvad has transitioned to a WireGuard-only network, replacing traditional OpenVPN obfuscation with modern alternatives like Shadowsocks (Bridge mode), QUIC, and its proprietary Lightweight WireGuard Obfuscation (LWO).

Its QUIC obfuscation method is having good success in getting around Russia’s latest protocol-level deep packet inspection (DPI), although it’s not 100% effective.

You’ll still have to regularly cycle through servers and settings to find a stable connection out of the country.

While Mullvad is rapidly becoming a strong VPN option for highly-censored regions, the VPN works much better in Turkey, the UAE, and other countries with moderate restrictions.

Disappointing Streaming Performance

If you want to watch geo-restricted streaming content from Russia, Mullvad isn’t the right VPN for you.

The company has never prioritized unblocking streaming services, and to this day the VPN only works with a handful of content platforms around the world.

Netflix Error Message While Connected to Mullvad

Mullvad failed to unblock US Netflix on multiple attempts.

For international streaming purposes, Windscribe is a much better choice.

How to Use Mullvad in Russia

Mullvad’s mobile and desktop apps have a minimalist interface that make it straightforward to access its anti-censorship settings, such as QUIC.

How to Use Mullvad in Russia

Launch the Mullvad app.
In the top-right, select the Gear (Settings) icon.
Navigate to VPN settings and then select WireGuard settings.
Tap Obfuscation and select QUIC from the list.
Return to the home screen, tap Switch location, and choose a nearby server in Finland, Latvia, or Estonia for the best speeds.

If QUIC stops working all of a sudden, try switching to the LWO (Lightweight WireGuard Obfuscation) setting.

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3. Windscribe: 100% Free VPN for Russia

Windscribe

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Get Windscribe

Overall Russia Rating: 8.7/10

Bypassing Russian Censorship
8.5/10
Obfuscation Technology
9.4/10
Speed
8.8/10
Privacy
9.1/10
Security
8.3/10
Nearby Servers to Russia
7.5/10

To learn more, read our VPN testing methodology.

Completely free to use
Free servers in Romania, Norway & Germany
Diskless server network & open-source desktop apps
Easy-to-use apps for popular devices
Privacy-friendly logging policy
Effective AmneziaWG protocol (paid service only)

No free Russian IP addresses (paid only)
Often fails to load video content in HD/4K
No human live chat
Fluctuating connection speeds

Servers	10
Countries with Servers	10
Logging Policy	No Identifiable Data
Jurisdiction	Canada (Five Eyes Member)

Simultaneous Connections	Unlimited
Support	Email & Online Resources Only
Compatible with	Windows Mac iOS Android Linux Amazon Fire TV Android TV Apple TV Router Chrome

Windscribe offers the most reliable free VPN that still works in Russia, with a generous network of free servers in 10 countries.

When in Russia, we recommend connecting to its Romania, Norway, or Germany server locations for the fastest speeds.

Windscribe’s obfuscation protocols — Stealth and WStunnel — continue to work rather well in Russia, although they aren’t as effective as Astrill’s VPN obfuscation technology.

There are also no free Russia servers available; for access to those (in Moscow and St. Petersburg), you’ll have to get a paid Windscribe subscription.

Using Windscribe’s free iPhone app.

100% Free Obfuscation Options

Windscribe’s free service can still access websites and apps blocked in Russia.

It has the most effective obfuscation of any free VPN we’ve tested, beating out Proton VPN and PrivadoVPN by some margin.

It’s also one of a few VPNs that lets you access its obfuscation settings for free, unlike most other free services.

Windscribe doesn’t log any personally identifiable information and operates a diskless server network, almost eliminating the risk of data being extracted from its VPN servers.

Using the Stealth protocol, port 443, and the free Bucharest server.

10GB Monthly Data Restriction

Windscribe is designed for VPN beginners, with apps that are relatively simple to use despite the many advanced settings on offer.

The design of the apps and browser extensions is starting to look a bit dated but, for such a good free service, we’re ok with that for now.

The big downside to using Windscribe is its 10GB monthly bandwidth cap. While it’s a generous allowance compared to many secure free VPNs, you’ll quickly max it out with regular streaming or torrenting activity.

If you’re only browsing websites, or using services like X (Twitter), then 10GB may last you the whole month, as long as you don’t consume a lot of video content or download large files.

How to Use Windscribe in Russia

All of Windscribe’s applications have a user-friendly interface that allows you to activate settings and switch between protocols in seconds to stay ahead of Russia’s protocol-level blocks.

How to Use Windscribe in Russia

Launch Windscribe.
In the top-left, select the Settings icon.
Go down to Connection, and then change Connection Mode to Manual.
Under Protocol, pick either Stealth or WStunnel.
If your connection is throttled, try switching to a Finland or Germany server for better stability.

Paid Windscribe users can also access the AmneziaWG protocol (setup guide), an obfuscated version of WireGuard designed to bypass Roskomnadzor’s DPI.

By randomizing packet signatures, it hides VPN usage while maintaining high connection speeds.

Get Windscribe

How to Download & Use a VPN in Russia

It’s not always possible to download and install a VPN once you’re in Russia, which is why we recommend downloading one (or even two) before you travel.

Fortunately, Astrill provides an alternative website to download and install the VPN software from inside Russia.

Before your travel, contact your chosen VPN’s customer support and ask for the latest mirror URL.

Instructions: How to Use a VPN in Russia

Visit the VPN service’s website and sign up. If you’re already in Russia, contact your VPN service to find a mirror download URL.
Install the latest version of the VPN app onto your device.
Launch the VPN app and sign in. Some VPNs provide a username and password, or you’ll create your own.
Turn on obfuscation protocols/features. Astrill offers an effective proprietary StealthVPN protocol that still works.
Turn on the VPN’s kill switch. This prevents your real IP address from leaking if your internet connection drops suddenly.
Connect to a VPN server in a nearby country like Finland or Poland for the fastest internet speeds.

Once you’re in Russia, remember that normal OpenVPN and WireGuard traffic will be blocked, as well as standard TLS proxies.

Are VPNs Banned in Russia?

By encrypting your traffic and changing your IP address, VPN software can access blocked web content that’s deemed incompatible with the views of the Russian government.

As a result, many VPNs are now blocked in Russia as part of a larger attempt to maintain Russian state control over the internet.

Using a VPN in Russia is not illegal in itself, but using an ‘unauthorized’ VPN is against the law.

The punishment for using an unauthorized VPN in Russia is 300,000 RUB (~$3,400) for the user and 700,000 RUB (~$8,000) for the VPN service.

To become an ‘authorized’ VPN service, the company must cooperate with the Russian state and agree to block all the websites in the government’s extensive website blacklist. They must also agree to share user data with Russian security services.

This makes using an ‘authorized’ VPN in Russia useless from a privacy and anti-censorship perspective.

We’re pleased to see many VPNs have ignored these regulations and continue to unblock websites censored by the Russian state. However, there is always a risk that a VPN with physical Russia servers might be forced to cooperate with data requests.

If you use one of our recommended VPNs for Russia, it’s very unlikely your traffic will be identified, intercepted or blocked.

Internet Censorship in Russia

Over the past decade, the Russian government has made several attempts to increase its control over the domestic internet. Here are some of the most important events affecting the country’s online freedoms:

1. Blocking Websites and Social Media

Since 2022, Russia has dramatically escalated its internet restrictions, blocking thousands of websites and apps including YouTube, Facebook, X, Instagram, BBC News, and Quora.

In response, Russian citizens turned to VPNs in large numbers — Proton VPN recorded a 9,000% rise in Russian signups on 24 March 2022 alone.

Proton VPN recorded a 9,000% rise in Russian signups on 24 March 2022.

2. Blocking VPNs and Entire Protocols

In retaliation to rising VPN usage, the Russian government began restricting VPN services in June 2022. A total of 197 VPNs have been blocked or restricted for not complying with Russian law, including popular services like NordVPN and Proton VPN.

Russia’s approach has since escalated well beyond blocking individual VPN services by IP address. Since late 2025, OpenVPN, WireGuard, and standard TLS-based proxies are blocked at the ISP infrastructure level nationwide.

Moreover, Roskomnadzor is using deep packet active probing to confirm suspected VPN servers. When your connection is flagged by DPI, the system sends test traffic to your server.

If the server responds like a VPN, it is quickly blocked. This is why many users find a VPN works at first, but then suddenly stops.

This means that even a VPN service not on Roskomnadzor’s blocklist will fail if it relies on these standard protocols. Protocol choice is now the single most important factor in whether a VPN works in Russia.

This is why we recommend Astrill, whose StealthVPN protocol uses QUIC/UDP-based obfuscation specifically designed to evade protocol-level detection — not just IP-address blocks.

3. The Yarovaya Law

Russia’s Yarovaya Law requires all telecom companies and ISPs to store detailed user communication records for six months, and all connection metadata for three years.

This gives the government on-demand access to records of everything you do online.

Promoting ‘extremism’ online is punishable by up to five years in prison. The definition of ‘extremism’ under this law is broad enough to include modest protests and criticism of government policy.

4. Russia’s Sovereign Internet

Russia has been taking steps toward creating a domestic alternative to the global internet. The ‘Sovereign Internet’ law gives the state the legal authority to disconnect Russia from the worldwide web entirely in the event of an undefined “emergency.”

In July 2023, the government launched Ruwiki — its own version of Wikipedia, created by copying all of Wikipedia’s articles and removing or rewriting content that contradicts the government’s official positions.

Together, these measures reflect a long-term strategy to bring Russia’s internet under full state control: blocking foreign content, surveiling domestic communications, neutralizing circumvention tools, and building the infrastructure needed to operate independently of the global web entirely.

How We Test VPNs for Russia

We use a unique, exhaustive testing process to make sure we only recommend the safest and most reliable VPNs for Russia.

We test every VPN service in six key categories, and use these results to calculate an overall rating for Russia.

Here is a table showing how our chosen VPNs for Russia performed in our testing categories:

VPNs with a data cap receive a reduction to their overall rating.

Below is a more detailed breakdown of the five testing categories, along with how much of the overall rating for Russia they make up:

1. Bypassing Russian Censorship (40%)

Minimum Requirement: Some VPN servers work in Russia.
We Recommend: All VPN servers reliably work in Russia.

The most important attribute of a top Russian VPN is its ability to bypass censorship.

We use remote servers to test every VPN on its ability to access restricted websites and services.

The most effective VPNs will work to bypass website blocks on all servers, without limitations. However, we also reward the services that can work to bypass censorship almost all of the time.

2. Obfuscation Technology (20%)

Minimum Requirement: Some obfuscation functionality.
We Recommend: Multiple advanced obfuscation tools.

Obfuscation is a type of technology designed to disguise or camouflage your VPN traffic.

Typical encryption stops third parties from being able to see your activity. Obfuscation prevents them from knowing it is VPN traffic at all.

This type of technology is vital if you’re looking to bypass online censorship safely and effectively.

For this reason, we test every VPN for the ability to select an obfuscation protocol from the settings menu. VPNs with multiple obfuscation options, AES-256 encryption, and IP leak protection are rewarded.

3. Speed (10%)

Minimum Requirement: Average download speeds over 60Mbps.
We Recommend: Average download speeds over 80Mbps.

We regularly test for local speeds from the US, and international download speeds while connected to Australia, Singapore, the UK, and more.

After recording speeds connected to a VPN, we compare them to speeds without using a VPN to figure out the percentage drop.

The best VPNs only have minimal speed loss when connected to servers in the same continent. It’s likely that the further away the server you connect to, the slower your internet speeds will be.

4. Privacy (10%)

Minimum Requirement: A clear privacy policy with minimal logs.
We Recommend: A strict zero-logs privacy policy.

Russia has banned unauthorized VPNs, which means it’s important there are no logs of your internet connections in the country.

We analyze every VPN privacy policy in detail to assess its privacy policy, jurisdiction, and ownership. We do not recommend any service that collects identifying logs or has ties to the Russian government.

5. Security (10%)

Minimum Requirement: AES-256 or ChaCha20 encryption, a functional kill switch, and DNS leak protection.
We Recommend: All of the above, plus diskless (RAM-only) servers and post-quantum cryptography (PQC).

To evaluate a VPN’s technical security, we use packet-inspection software (Wireshark) to verify that a VPN’s encryption (AES-256 or ChaCha20) is effectively scrambling all data.

We also look for Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) support, such as the ML-KEM standard, to future-proof your data against “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks.

A critical part of our assessment is ensuring a VPN’s Kill Switch works as intended, and built-in leak protection stops accidental IP exposures, especially on IPv6 connections.

We intentionally force connection drops to ensure no IP or DNS requests leak to local ISPs.

6. Nearby Servers to Russia (10%)

Minimum Requirement: VPN servers in some countries near Russia.
We Recommend: A wide range of VPN servers in Russia and nearby countries.

Finally, we test every VPN to assess the number of server locations on offers both within Russia and its neighboring countries.

The closer these servers are to your physical location, the better your VPN speeds will be.

VPN services with multiple server locations in a wide range of neighboring countries are rewarded, while those that cater only to Western countries are penalized.

Data Cap Penalty

Almost all free VPNs come with a data cap. Like with most limitations on free VPNs, this is imposed to encourage users to upgrade to a premium subscription.

If you use up your data cap, the rest of your internet activity will be outside of the VPN tunnel. Consequently, your ISP can monitor the webpages you visit and you won’t be able to access blocked websites in Russia.

We apply a penalty to the VPN’s final overall rating for Russia based on its data cap:

Unlimited bandwidth: No deduction to the overall rating
10GB per month: -20% to the overall rating
500MB per day: -25% to the overall rating
5GB per month: -30% to the overall rating
1GB per month: -35% to the overall rating
200MB per day: -40% to the overall rating
500MB per month: -50% to the overall rating

FAQs

Does NordVPN Work in Russia?

No, NordVPN is highly unreliable and effectively blocked in Russia. In our latest tests, the service consistently failed to bypass the protocol-level blocks enforced by Roskomnadzor.

Since NordVPN withdrew its physical servers from the country in 2019 and does not support next-gen stealth protocols like VLESS or Hysteria 2, we don’t recommend it for users inside Russia.

Does ExpressVPN Work in Russia?

Similarly to NordVPN, ExpressVPN’s connection reliability in Russia has recently plummeted due to the country’s aggressive protocol-level filtering.

How Can I Stay Anonymous Online in Russia?

If you’re an internet user in Russia, the country’s laws on internet freedom can be frightening. To stay safe and anonymous online, here are a few best practices you should follow:

Use a pseudonym. No level of encryption or digital hygiene can hide who you are if you post under your real name. Pick a fake one that can’t be linked back to you.
Use a VPN. A VPN will keep your browsing activity and location private by encrypting your internet traffic, routing it through a secure tunnel, and masking your true IP address.
Use the Tor Browser. Tor works by encrypting your online communications and relaying your traffic through randomized nodes. Tor is slow, but if you’re unable to access a VPN, then it is an alternative choice for anonymous browsing in Russia.
Use common sense. Don’t geotag your content, discuss events from your personal life, or keep a local record of your written content. Stay away from social media websites, and be careful about what you post.

What's the Best VPN for Streaming Netflix in Russia?

In March 2022, Netflix suspended its service in Russia. However, you can get round this suspension by using a VPN like Windscribe, which unblocks many Netflix regions.

The Best VPNs for Russia

The Short Answer

Why Trust Us?

The Best VPNs for Russia Compared

1. Astrill: Best VPN for Russia

Astrill

Extremely Effective Anti-Censorship VPN

Excellent Settings to Bypass Firewalls

Clunky & Unappealing Apps

How to Use Astrill in Russia

2. Mullvad: Cheaper VPN for Russia

Mullvad VPN

Greatly Improved Obfuscation Technology

Disappointing Streaming Performance

How to Use Mullvad in Russia

3. Windscribe: 100% Free VPN for Russia

Windscribe

100% Free Obfuscation Options

10GB Monthly Data Restriction

How to Use Windscribe in Russia

How to Download & Use a VPN in Russia

Are VPNs Banned in Russia?

Internet Censorship in Russia

1. Blocking Websites and Social Media

2. Blocking VPNs and Entire Protocols

3. The Yarovaya Law

4. Russia’s Sovereign Internet

How We Test VPNs for Russia

1. Bypassing Russian Censorship (40%)

2. Obfuscation Technology (20%)

3. Speed (10%)

4. Privacy (10%)

5. Security (10%)

6. Nearby Servers to Russia (10%)

Data Cap Penalty

FAQs

Does NordVPN Work in Russia?

Does ExpressVPN Work in Russia?

How Can I Stay Anonymous Online in Russia?

What's the Best VPN for Streaming Netflix in Russia?

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