Russia plans nearly 60 billion rubles over three years for internet traffic filtering

Russia is preparing a new wave of restrictions on tools that people use to bypass internet blocks. The budget for the next three years includes a record sum of about 60 billion rubles for traffic filtering. The draft budget for 2027–2029 provides for a sharp rise in spending on filtering and blocking through TSPU, the technical means of countering threats.

What the authorities have in mind

The Digital Development Ministry wants to make mobile internet considerably more expensive for VPN users. The idea of charging for international mobile traffic first surfaced in March 2026, when the ministry proposed an extra fee for subscribers using more than 15 gigabytes. Telecom operators asked for a delay. According to Kommersant, the government now proposes raising the free international allowance to 50 gigabytes and, for the time being, applying the fee only on 5G networks. Because all traffic through a VPN counts as international, using a good VPN on a phone would become very costly.

A new bill aimed at phone and cyber fraud would require companies to notify Roskomnadzor, the internet regulator, that they use corporate VPNs. The government and the FSB would jointly approve rules for using them. The bill would also create a register of individuals and companies that host VPN services on servers in Russia. Those caught bypassing blocks would be barred for a year from contracting with any provider in the country.

A decade of restrictions

The first VPN rules appeared in 2017, and the “sovereign internet” law took effect in 2019, allowing centralized control. Mass blocking of VPN services began in 2021. In 2023, instructions for bypassing blocks were banned. In 2025, fines for VPN operators were introduced and VPN use became an aggravating factor in criminal cases. Later steps included a ban on VPN advertising, a requirement for major companies to detect users with active VPNs, and a ban on Russian hosting providers serving such services.