VPNs and disappearing messages cited as grounds for pre-trial detention in Russia

This piece has two parts: a sourced news report, followed by the Sardaana News editorial position.

What happened

Russian investigators increasingly cite the use of VPNs and auto-deleting (“disappearing”) messenger messages as “conspiracy measures” when asking courts to place suspects in pre-trial detention (SIZO), CNews reports, citing MK.

Eva Merkacheva, a member of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, said in October 2026 that such arguments appear more often in detention petitions; she relies on court rulings she has seen. The “conspiracy measures” listed include anonymization software, traffic encryption, end-to-end encrypted messengers, disappearing messages and hidden contact lists.

One example is a Moscow psychotherapist arrested on suspicion of justifying terrorism over a 2022 post: among other things, the court weighed the investigation’s arguments about “conspiracy tools.”

Experts note that VPNs or disappearing messages alone are not a legal ground for detention under the Criminal Procedure Code.

Context

In July 2026, Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin said a bill was being prepared to toughen liability for crimes committed using ICT, AI, VPNs and proxies, proposing a new aggravating circumstance in the Criminal Code for crimes committed with ICT, including AI.

On April 15, 2026, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said there is currently no ban preventing VPN use in Russia and referred regulatory questions to Roskomnadzor or the Ministry of Digital Development. On March 30, 2026, Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev said colleagues are working to reduce VPN use but called administrative liability for using VPNs a blunt approach they categorically dislike. Roskomnadzor’s press service said it does not restrict corporate VPN use inside the country for professional access to foreign websites.

Sardaana News editorial position

The Russian authorities want to strengthen the information blockade and ban the free flow of information about how people live outside Russia. Remember: Russia is undergoing a revival of the North Korean scenario. The country is isolating its citizens from the open internet, following North Korea’s path, and in the degree of control it has already overtaken China. Branding ordinary tools for reaching the open internet — VPNs and private messaging — as “conspiracy” worthy of jail criminalizes the very means by which people learn about life beyond Russia’s walls. The reason is clear: after the war against Ukraine, Russia faces a major economic and political crisis, and the regime fears open information — fears that people will learn how others live in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. And the control works both ways: so that the world does not learn about the repressions inside Russia.