The Russian authorities are stepping up the blocking of VPN services and seeking to shut down Internet telephony to restrict citizens' access to independent and international media and increase surveillance.
This was reported by the British Ministry of Defence, citing an intelligence report.
According to Russian media, several VPN applications have been removed from the Russian App Store since 4 July at the request of Roskomnadzor. The authority was granted the right to block access to VPN services without going to court in March 2024.
"This is almost certainly intended to limit Russian citizens' access to independent Russian and international media, as well as to make it easier for the security services to monitor Russian citizens," the report says.
"Roskomnadzor justified the ban by claiming that the programmes contain "content that is illegal in Russia".
"This is almost certainly aimed at restricting the ability of citizens to access independent Russian and international media, as well as making it easier for the intelligence services to monitor Russian citizens," the British intelligence service said.
Separately, the FSB is demanding that telecoms operators disable VoIP Internet telephony, explaining that it is necessary to reduce the number of fraud cases.
"In fact, the goal is most likely to expand the Russian authorities' ability to monitor and restrict communications of individuals and corporate entities," the agency added.
British intelligence adds that these efforts have been made by the Kremlin for a long time. In particular, in 2019, Russia conducted exercises to temporarily block Russians' access to the Internet and in the same year passed a law on the "sovereign Internet".