The Russian internet is closing itself to foreign visitors
Year by year, more Russian websites stop opening from abroad. That is not an accident — companies and government bodies deliberately block foreign IPs. The reasons vary: DDoS protection, content licensing limits, protection of Russian citizens' personal data.
The result is the same: a person abroad can't get into the services they rely on.
Which sites are most often unavailable
If you are in another country, you risk losing access to:
- Government portals: Gosuslugi, the tax service (nalog.gov.ru), Moy Arbitr, court websites, Rosreestr, mos.ru, regional services
- Banking apps: Sberbank Online, VTB, Alfa-Bank, T-Bank — they often cut features or refuse to load on a foreign IP
- Streaming services: Kinopoisk, IVI, Okko, Premier, Rutube — content is blocked by regional licences
- Marketplaces: Avito, Ozon, Wildberries — access is sometimes restricted, especially during sales
The fix: a VPN with a server inside Russia
There is one solution: a VPN with servers inside Russia. It swaps your IP for a Russian one, and to the site you "arrive" from Moscow or Saint Petersburg.
An important caveat: an ordinary VPN won't do. Most large Western providers removed their Russian servers in 2022. Those that formally still list them often run protocols that government sites and banks can recognise and block.
You need a specialised service with real servers in Russia and modern protocols (VLESS, Trojan).
How to open Russian sites from abroad
- Download the VPN Russia app — available for iOS, Android and macOS
- Connect to a Russia server — takes a few seconds
- Open the site you need — Gosuslugi, Kinopoisk, Sberbank or any other Russian resource now works like at home