VPN Services Stabilize in Russia? Expert Warns Users Not to Relax as New Blocks May Be Coming
Russian users have recently noticed that personal VPN services and anonymizers are operating more stably after months of aggressive disruptions. Technical director Sergey Shcherbakov of the company Stakhanovets explains that the current improvement is likely only a temporary pause while deep packet inspection systems recalibrate. Earlier this year, DPI equipment was blocking traffic based on crude digital fingerprints of protocols such as OpenVPN and WireGuard, causing widespread collateral damage and connection drops. Operators are now believed to be collecting detailed data on ports, reconnection patterns, and obfuscation techniques to build more precise filters. Shcherbakov predicts the next wave of restrictions will arrive by late summer or early autumn, possibly shifting from outright blocks to throttling speeds during peak hours and delaying large file transfers. Meanwhile, users have adapted by maintaining multiple VPN clients, switching protocols and ports, and enabling obfuscation when needed.
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