Russia Dropped Its AI Plan to Block 95% of VPNs

Last Updated on October 27, 2026 by Steve Salinas

Russia's Digital Development Ministry drafted a plan to use artificial intelligence to push the effectiveness of its VPN blocking to 95%, according to a front-page report in Kommersant. The measure is no longer in the current draft of the country's national AI roadmap, but the machine-learning filtering project behind it is funded separately, and the money for Russia's blocking infrastructure is set to double next year.

Table of Contents

What Happened

Kommersant reviewed the draft of Russia's national plan for implementing AI through 2030. The ministry wanted artificial intelligence to analyse the technical characteristics of 70% of all the VPN services Russia blocks, and the drafters estimated that this would lift blocking effectiveness to 95%. Asked about the proposal, the ministry said the current draft “contains no such information.” A source familiar with the discussions told Kommersant that agencies pitched a range of measures for the plan, some of which may never be implemented.

The 95% figure needs context in two ways. It is a blocking-effectiveness target, not an accuracy score: it describes how much of the targeted VPN traffic is stopped, and says nothing about how much legitimate traffic is caught in the same net. Russia also already claims 92% on paper. A Roskomnadzor subsidy decision for its Main Radio Frequency Center (GRChTs), dated January 2025 and surfaced in May 2026 by journalist Maria Kolomychenko, sets an “average level of effectiveness” of 92% for restricting VPNs via signatures by the end of 2030. Verstka reported that the AI proposal was meant to lift that same indicator to 95%.

The capability did not leave with the line in the document. Roskomnadzor has its own machine-learning filtering project budgeted outside the national AI plan. Forbes Russia reported in January 2026 that the regulator planned to spend 2.27 billion rubles (around $29 million) in 2026 on the mechanism, the same month Windscribe saw roughly a 90% drop in its Russian traffic. The Kommersant report also landed a day after RBC revealed a draft ministry order requiring phones on Russia's 5G networks to support the FSB-developed Kuznyechik cipher from 1 March 2032.

Key Facts

70% – share of the VPN services Russia blocks whose traffic characteristics the draft wanted AI to analyse.
95% – blocking-effectiveness target in the draft, up from 92% already claimed on paper.
92% – GRChTs target for signature-based VPN restriction by the end of 2030.
57 million – estimated number of Russians who rely on circumvention tools.
2.27 billion rubles (around $29 million) – Roskomnadzor's planned 2026 spend on machine-learning traffic filtering, per Forbes Russia.
About 90% – drop in Windscribe's Russian traffic in January 2026.
10+ – VPN providers that reported tighter restrictions in the week after September's State Duma elections.
1 March 2032 – date in a draft order requiring 5G phones to support the FSB-developed Kuznyechik cipher.

What It Means

For anyone using a VPN to reach a streaming library in another country, the direction of travel matters more than the dropped paragraph. An AI filter trained on packet sizes and timing, session length, and the balance of inbound to outbound traffic does not need to recognise a specific server. It can flag a connection that looks like a tunnel and block the next server before it ever reaches a blocklist, which is why providers keep changing protocols and adding obfuscation, and why a service that worked last month can fail this one. Russia is the most aggressive example, not the only one that watches traffic behaviour. The practical takeaway for viewers is unglamorous: choose a provider that maintains obfuscated servers, test the connection before you need it, and keep the app updated. A VPN changes the country a streaming service sees. It does not make piracy legal, and it does not guarantee access.

Related Guide

If you want the technical background first, our guide to what a VPN tunnel actually is explains which parts of a connection stay visible to a network-level filter.

Source: TechRadar – “Russia drafted plans for AI that could block 95% of VPNs – but the idea has quietly vanished from its national roadmap”, 20 October, reporting on Kommersant.

This is a news report, not legal advice. VPNs are legal in most countries, but using one to access pirated content is not, and unblocking a service can breach its Terms of Service. Check your local laws and the terms of the services you use.