Tensions are rising in the Russian IT community over the policy of blocking VPN services. The latest round of discussion was triggered by publications from Frank Media and The Bell (recognized as a foreign agent) about an alleged meeting at the end of April between Natalya Kasperskaya, head of the "Domestic Software" Association of Software Developers, and representatives of the Second Service of the FSB.
Kasperskaya categorically denied the meeting: "I did not meet with the FSB," she wrote on her Telegram channel. However, she admitted that she had indeed wanted to hold such a meeting to discuss complaints outlined in an anonymous letter, and that a conversation about a possible meeting in a narrow circle of colleagues might have been misinterpreted.
Much more important than the details of the negotiations was Kasperskaya's public statement. She gave a telling example: at a market near Moscow, two women over sixty were discussing which VPN to use. "Ill-considered digital pressure generates natural digital resistance — exactly according to the laws of physics," she declared, warning that "the Russian digital resistance currently has no leaders, but God forbid they appear."
The context of this statement is extremely important. In April, the "Domestic Software" Association had already sent a letter to the presidential administration demanding a review of VPN blocking policies. Moreover, earlier Roskomnadzor had offered Kasperskaya to include the IP addresses of her company's corporate VPN in the "legal list," but she refused, explaining that the company "has one foot under sanctions" and exposing IP addresses would make it easier for the other side to block them.
For Telecomika readers in the CIS countries, this story reveals a key conflict that could be exported beyond Russia's borders. This is not about politics, but about a basic technical contradiction: attempts to block VPNs run up against the fact that the Russian (and any other) IT business cannot function without workarounds. Major companies have spent years fine-tuning international development chains, and disrupting them causes damage that cannot be compensated by reports on "blocking effectiveness."
Against this backdrop, the 92% VPN blocking efficiency target set by Roskomnadzor in subsidies to the Main Radio Frequency Center (GRFC) until 2030 looks less like a technical goal and more like a marker of political will. Experts are already calling it "an arms race where the digital partisan always has the advantage."
Kasperskaya categorically denied the meeting: "I did not meet with the FSB," she wrote on her Telegram channel. However, she admitted that she had indeed wanted to hold such a meeting to discuss complaints outlined in an anonymous letter, and that a conversation about a possible meeting in a narrow circle of colleagues might have been misinterpreted.
Much more important than the details of the negotiations was Kasperskaya's public statement. She gave a telling example: at a market near Moscow, two women over sixty were discussing which VPN to use. "Ill-considered digital pressure generates natural digital resistance — exactly according to the laws of physics," she declared, warning that "the Russian digital resistance currently has no leaders, but God forbid they appear."
The context of this statement is extremely important. In April, the "Domestic Software" Association had already sent a letter to the presidential administration demanding a review of VPN blocking policies. Moreover, earlier Roskomnadzor had offered Kasperskaya to include the IP addresses of her company's corporate VPN in the "legal list," but she refused, explaining that the company "has one foot under sanctions" and exposing IP addresses would make it easier for the other side to block them.
For Telecomika readers in the CIS countries, this story reveals a key conflict that could be exported beyond Russia's borders. This is not about politics, but about a basic technical contradiction: attempts to block VPNs run up against the fact that the Russian (and any other) IT business cannot function without workarounds. Major companies have spent years fine-tuning international development chains, and disrupting them causes damage that cannot be compensated by reports on "blocking effectiveness."
Against this backdrop, the 92% VPN blocking efficiency target set by Roskomnadzor in subsidies to the Main Radio Frequency Center (GRFC) until 2030 looks less like a technical goal and more like a marker of political will. Experts are already calling it "an arms race where the digital partisan always has the advantage."