Russia's state communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, has forced Apple to stop offering Virtual Private Network (VPN) apps via the App Store in Russia as that nation continues to censor internal dissent.

The regulator has already blocked access to dozens of VPNs in Russia, and Apple has now removed apps for 25 VPN services, including Proton VPN, Red Shield VPN, and Le VPN.

Millions in Russia use a VPN

Millions of people in or near conflict zones rely on VPNs to gain access to information that is not published via official channels. The number of Russians using such services spiked since the invasion of Ukraine, and adoption has not slowed. One VPN provider reports that Web traffic from nations with high degrees of censorship (including Russia) climbed an astounding 212% in 2023.

Russia doesn't like its people avoiding censorship, which is why it forced Apple to remove the apps from its store. Some industry observers, including security consultant and Objective-See founder Patrick Wardle, have argued that if app sideloading were supported on iPhones, users might have options to download these apps elsewhere.

Apple isn't the only big US tech firm to have acted against VPN apps in Russia. In 2022, Surfshark revealed that Google was forced to delist over 36,000 URL's that linked to VPN services from Russia. 

A state of digital isolation

"While users on other operating systems can request mirror download links from VPN providers, it's much trickier for iOS users who don't want to jailbreak their devices to download the VPN apps that have been removed from the official store," said Simon Migliano, head of research at Top10VPN.com. "It's very disappointing to see Apple complying with the Russian authorities' increasingly draconian crackdown on VPNs that pushes the country ever closer to digital isolation, cut off from the global internet."

Apple is also just one component of a larger attack on VPN use in Russia. The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) points out that the ban is "almost certainly intended to restrict the ability of Russian citizens to access independent Russian, and international media, as well as to simplify the ability of the security services to monitor Russian citizens." 

The MoD also notes that simultaneously with the crackdown on VPN apps distributed in Russia, state authorities demanded telecom providers there end support for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony services

It's a pattern of repression, control, and erosion of communication that was ongoing in Russia even before the invasion of Ukraine. "While there are a shrinking number of VPNs still available in the Russian version of the App Store, fewer and fewer high-quality services remain, which means they are less likely to work as they lack the sophisticated traffic obfuscation offered by bigger brands," said Migliano.

Apple says nothing

Apple has made no public comment on the removal so far. If it did, I imagine it would argue that failure to comply with the request could also threaten the interests of existing iPhone users in Russia, as it is possible Apple would be forced to cease processing software updates and other forms of tech support to customers there. This would make their devices vulnerable to attack by state-sponsored hackers. 

It is also worth noting that any current or former Apple employees in Russia might have been exposed to reprisals by Russian authorities had the company refused to comply.

How to (still) access VPNs in Russia

There are some ways people in Russia (or elsewhere) can still use VPNs on iPhones without an app, principally by using an additional device as hotspot and a non-Russian VPN server. This requires changing your country in your AppleID settings, so you can access another nation's App Store. You might also need a non-Russian payment method. 

"This should allow the installation of VPN apps that have been removed from the Russian app store. My advice would be to install several and cycle through them whenever they get blocked," said Migliano.

"If you don't already have a working VPN, it's also possible to set up Tor on a non-iOS device that can act as a hotspot for connected mobile devices to access the App Store from international IP addresses. Currently, the best options for Russia are Astrill, PrivateVPN, and Windscribe, as they have the best connection success rate, despite the crackdown," he added.

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