- Russia’s Digital Development Ministry has confirmed that it has completely abandoned plans to charge users for international internet traffic.
- The proposal initially aimed to charge users around 150 rubles per additional gigabyte after a monthly allocation of 15 GB.
- Demand for censorship circumvention tools remains at an all-time high as the Kremlin continues its broader crackdown on digital privacy.
Russian internet users can breathe a sigh of relief as the government has abandoned its controversial plan to tax international mobile traffic.
The proposal, which heavily targeted those who used top VPN services to circumvent state censorship, would have forced residents to pay high premiums for access to free and open internet.
This policy reversal was confirmed at a recent State Duma session by Deputy Minister of Digital Development Ivan Lebedev.
Answering parliamentary questions on the initiative of Communist Party deputy Oleg Smolin, Lebedev categorically stated: “Fees for foreign traffic are not taken into account,” according to information from Meduza.io.
First presented at a meeting in late March between Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev and domestic telecom operators, the plan aimed to hit the wallets of privacy-conscious users.
Since Russian operators inherently classify VPN data routing as international traffic, the government intended to implement a strict monthly cap of 15 GB. According to initial reports from the BBC Russian Service, authorities planned to charge users around 150 rubles for each additional gigabyte consumed beyond this limit.
This sudden turnaround comes after months of persistent logistical hurdles and industry reluctance. The tax was initially scheduled to take effect on May 1, but was later postponed to June 1, according to the Russian business daily. Vedomosti reported that carriers were not ready to configure their billing systems.
The deadline was then pushed back again “closer to the fall” or after the September elections, before finally being removed altogether.
As previously reported by TechRadar, an inside source has confirmed that Russia’s internet regulator, Roskomnadzor, does not have the technical capabilities to effectively prevent residents from using VPNs on a large scale.
A temporary victory in broader digital repression
Even if the removal of the tax constitutes a definitive victory for privacy defenders, it remains only one fight in an increasingly hostile digital war.
Russian demand for circumvention tools has increased significantly following the state-ordered blocking of major global platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram.
Without a VPN, ordinary citizens are largely cut off from independent news sources and international social networks.
Rather than relying solely on financial deterrents, the Kremlin has gradually stepped up its technical and legislative attacks to close the loopholes.
By mid-April, authorities successfully pressured major national internet platforms to comply with the new regulations, actively preventing users from accessing their sites and apps when a VPN was enabled.
Cybersecurity experts have also repeatedly warned against more drastic state interventions aimed at completely isolating the country’s internet infrastructure from the rest of the world.
For now, millions of citizens continue to rely on robust privacy tools to browse the web securely and maintain digital contact with the outside world. If you find yourself facing this restrictive landscape, it’s more crucial than ever to learn exactly how to survive Russia’s VPN crackdown.
