Two Phones and a VPN: How Russians Circumvent Internet Censorship

Russian residents are resorting to increasingly complex methods to avoid state internet censorship, with dual phone ownership and constant VPN use becoming routine. Kremlin-aligned officials, analysts, and ordinary citizens acknowledge that the restrictions disrupt daily life. Discontent with the restrictions is linked to a decline in Putin's approval ratings ahead of September parliamentary elections.

Russia has developed its own form of digital hygiene: one phone runs a VPN for banned applications, the other is reserved for state-approved solutions. Irina, an interior designer living in Moscow, describes her daily routine: first she logs into a VPN to communicate with friends via WhatsApp, then switches it off to buy a ticket on Russian Railways' website, and finally picks up a second phone to read messages from clients in the state-controlled MAX app.

"Of course it's all terribly tedious, but what else can we do?" says Irina. "You get used to it, and so the days go by switching the VPN on and off, switching between messaging apps and juggling virtual locations or even phones just to access the sites you need."

Wave of restrictions grew sharply

Vladimir Putin's largest wave of digital restrictions during his tenure has caused disruptions in banking, transport, and e-commerce. According to Kremlin-aligned opposition parties, bloggers, and business leaders, the situation has frustrated people ahead of September parliamentary elections.

VPN usage has exploded: in March alone, the five most popular VPN services were downloaded 9.2 million times from Google Play, 14 times more than the same period a year earlier, according to Russian newspaper Kommersant. According to independent research firm Levada Center, the proportion of Russians who admit to using a VPN has grown from 23 percent in 2022 to 36 percent this year.

"We've never seen demand like this before," acknowledged Sarkis Darbinyan, an internet freedom activist based in Lisbon, whom Moscow has declared a "foreign agent."

Putin's rating falls

Discontent is associated with a decline in Putin's approval ratings. According to state research firm VTsIOM, support dropped from 75.1 percent in February to 65.6 percent in April, the lowest level since 2022 when the full-scale war in Ukraine began. The rating has since recovered to nearly 67 percent.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov has argued that internet control is necessary for Russia's existential struggle with the West over Ukraine. However, Putin issued guidance to the government in April to act more carefully, telling lawmakers that relying solely on bans and restrictions is ineffective.

Tatiana Stanovaya, senior fellow at Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, wrote in April: "The question is not whether the regime can ensure the desired outcome-it can-but whether the electoral process will proceed smoothly."

Officials use VPNs themselves

The paradox of the situation is illustrated by the fact that even loyal officials carry multiple phones and download VPNs to keep state applications like MAX separate from the rest of their digital life. Putin's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev makes no secret of his VPN use and regularly posts to the platform X, which cannot be accessed from Russia without a VPN.

According to one source, some people even remove microphones and cameras from devices running MAX to avoid possible FSB surveillance. "Even if you have no bad intentions, nobody wants the FSB reading their messages," the source noted.

Against a backdrop of growing discontent, the Kremlin has softened its tone in recent weeks, assuring people that mobile internet outages are temporary. In May, plans were also postponed under which mobile operators would have charged customers extra for consuming more than 15 gigabytes of foreign data monthly-according to media reports, this requirement, which targets VPN users, will only be implemented after the elections.

Interior designer Irina does not expect relief anytime soon. "In Russia, they say there's nothing more permanent than the temporary," she observes.