How VPNs Are Blocked in Russia and What to Do If Amnezia VPN Fails to Connect

Since late May, a segment of Amnezia Free and Premium users has been experiencing connectivity issues. Some locations are unavailable, and the app itself occasionally runs unstably.

These are the consequences of an unprecedented DDoS attack coupled with the targeted blocking of an array of Amnezia VPN IP addresses. Simply put, there is an ongoing attempt to shut us down and strip users of their access to the free internet.

Without false modesty: Amnezia VPN is a major, widely known service. The more users return to the network, the higher the interest censors take in us. In the past, we bypassed internet censorship and evaded Roskomnadzor surveillance, but late May marks the authorities’ transition to large-scale, aggressive actions against us. It is flattering, but it causes the difficulties described above.

In this article, we explain what is happening, why simply turning the server off and back on is not enough to restore network access, and what you can do to get back online.

TL;DR

VPN services in Russia are blocked on multiple fronts — ranging from legislation to TMCT at the ISP level and DPI systems.
The Amnezia VPN team can prepare for some of these measures to restore service as quickly as possible. Others are beyond the capabilities of any independent VPN service.
If Amnezia VPN engineers detect a local incident, such as a blocked IP, they spin up a backup server within 15 minutes.
In the case of targeted cyberattacks, restoring access can take up to a week. For systemic blockages, it takes two weeks or more.
The Amnezia VPN team is constantly improving circumvention methods, such as the AmneziaWG protocol.
In 99% of cases, following standard recommendations, such as switching locations in the app or reissuing a configuration file, is enough to restore network access.

Why VPN Blocking in Russia Is Growing More Relentless

The crackdown on VPN services in Russia is a part of a state policy with a single goal — to render the Runet “sovereign.” In practice, the authorities are building a system where access to information, independent media, messengers, and free communication can be easily managed or entirely shut down.

VPN services inevitably do not fit into this system, which is why pressure on them grows year after year

Initially, blockings looked crude: if they found a VPN server's IP address, they blocked it. Over time, VPN services learned to rapidly change addresses, spin up new servers, and mask traffic. However, censorship is evolving: it is now backed by DPI systems and TMCTs.

In the censors' corner: state infrastructure, colossal budgets, legal mechanisms — including leverage over private businesses — and advanced equipment.
In the VPN services and users corner: talented engineers, open-source technologies, the community, and the drive for a free internet.

How VPNs Are Blocked in 2026

The systemic fight against VPNs involves an entire arsenal of tactics, methods, and techniques that censors frequently combine for maximum effectiveness.

Connection stability, case by case, depends on a variety of factors — region, ISP, network type, protocol, and the overall structure of internet censorship. This is exactly why everything works fine for some users, while others lose access to certain locations, and a few might even experience lags in the app itself.

Here are just a few of the blocking methods, ranging from the broadest to the laser-focused.

White Lists and Restricting Unknown Traffic

The harshest scenario: “anything that is not explicitly permitted is forbidden.” In this case, any non-standard traffic is deemed prohibited, which means almost the entire internet. Even well-disguised VPN traffic might fail to get through.

DPI Systems and Protocol Analysis

DPI, or deep packet inspection, is the advanced analysis of network traffic. Systems utilizing this method recognize common VPN protocols: WireGuard, OpenVPN, IPSec, Shadowsocks, VLESS, and others.

The system does not analyze the content of your messages, but it evaluates what the data stream looks like. A rough analogy would be a post office clerk evaluating a parcel's contents by its packaging: a book is unlikely to be shipped in the same box as a jar of jam. Even if the contents are encrypted, the connection method itself can look recognizable.

Because of this, VPN services use obfuscation and proprietary protocols.

Behavioral Traffic Analysis

The censor looks for “VPN-like behavior” rather than a specific protocol signature. The targets are connection duration, packet intervals, data volume transferred, and overall stream statistics. In this case, our task is to mask the traffic to look like standard web browsing.

Pressure at the App and Service Level

A distinct trend is identifying VPNs at the level of applications, websites, and services. Some platforms may restrict access if they detect a VPN interface, an IP address change, an unusual DNS route, or other signs of censorship circumvention.

Domain, API, and App Infrastructure Blocking

A particular case of a supply-chain attack — censors cut off the auxiliary infrastructure of the VPN service. The app, along with its users, becomes unable to fetch updates, authenticate, or download a new configuration.

IP Address and Subnet Blocking

A proven and straightforward method. The censor locates the IP addresses of VPN servers and adds them to blocklists. In some cases, entire address ranges end up there.

Following the blockage of an address array, two scenarios emerge:

Users cannot connect to a specific location — for example, Germany. Meanwhile, servers in other countries remain accessible.
The block is “scattered” across multiple locations. In this case, access to specific addresses drops, but even reconnecting to the same region might solve the problem.

Obviously, the number of affected users and the recovery timeline depend on the scale of the blockage.

Why Restoring a VPN Service Takes Time

VPN services are complex products, and one does not simply “turn them off and back on.” To bring users back online, we conduct restoration work in several distinct stages:

Isolation. We localize the incident, shut down problematic nodes, and reroute traffic to backup servers.
Reset. We terminate and restart sessions, refresh configurations, select alternative IP addresses, and update protocol parameters.
Diagnostics. We analyze telemetry data to find the root causes. This stage consumes the most time and effort.
Restoration. We deploy a “clean” configuration and spin up new servers to replace the blocked IPs.
Analysis and Takeaways. Reviewing the situation and communicating with users. You are here. Even before informing you, we perform a massive amount of work, and it is not always possible to fully restore the service by that exact moment.

After we restore network access, we dissect the causes of the incident and any vulnerabilities in the architecture to protect ourselves in the future.

This is the standard playbook for a routine incident. In the context of the Runet, where blockings sometimes come in waves within a single week, we are forced to constantly restart this loop or handle multiple incidents in parallel.

What Amnezia Free and Amnezia Premium Users Should Do During Blockings

If Amnezia VPN fails to connect, try a few basic steps:

Check if publicly accessible websites like microsoft.com open without a VPN. If they do not, a “white list” mode has most likely been implemented in your region.
Update the app to the latest version. New releases often contain fixes and up-to-date connection methods.
Change your connection region if possible. If you use Amnezia Premium, locations in Europe are the most reliable — they are more resilient than others.
Given the quirks of different ISPs, try switching from a mobile network to Wi-Fi and vice versa.
Test a different protocol if that option is available in your app.
Reload the configuration or refresh connection data if your plan supports this feature.
Try reloading the API. We have prepared separate instructions for both Amnezia Free and Amnezia Premium.
If you use Amnezia Free, reset the app settings

We assume that domestic Russian services — such as Gosuslugi, banks, marketplaces, and other local apps — track users and transmit data regarding the infrastructure of VPN services. We cannot know this for certain, but that is exactly what they promised to do in April 2026.

The Future of VPN Services in Russia

We advance our original solutions, upgrade our infrastructure, and seek new ways to bypass restrictions constantly. However, under centralized censorship, no VPN service can guarantee network availability everywhere and at all times.

This is precisely why we continue to restore the availability of our resources and make them more persistent.