Russian services do not work

Many Russian services, banks, government portals and marketplaces among them, restrict access from foreign addresses. While the VPN is on they see a foreign IP and may refuse to open, drop the session or ask for extra confirmation. There is one answer: keep their traffic off the VPN.

First check whether the service works at all

Traffic splitting already happens on the subscription's side and in the recommended apps: some addresses go direct, past the VPN. So many Russian sites and apps open even with the connection on. Start by simply opening the service you need; you may have nothing to configure.

Turn the connection off for a while

The most reliable move when a service still refuses. Turn the VPN off, go into the bank or the government portal, finish what you are doing, turn it back on. There is no need to refresh the subscription afterwards.

The browser extension

If you only need the VPN for particular sites, install the extension instead of a system client: only the browser goes through it, while the rest of the programs on the computer work directly. Guides are on the setup page.

If the service still refuses

  • Sign out and sign back in with cleared cookies or in a private window: the session may have been remembered from a foreign address, and the service treats the sign-in as suspicious.
  • Close the mobile app completely and start it after the VPN is off. Many banking apps check the address only at launch.
  • On Android, clear the app's cache if it keeps showing a network error.
  • Make sure two VPN clients are not running at once.

Telegram in particular

If only Telegram is restricted and the rest of the internet suits you, there is a personal Telegram proxy on MTProto: entry in Moscow, exit abroad. Only Telegram goes through it, and the rest of the phone's traffic stays ordinary. How to turn it on is in Personal Telegram proxy.

If mobile internet only opens a few sites

That is heavy-restriction mode, where only permitted resources are reachable. For those stretches there is the Free carrier bypass page with public configurations. It is a fallback while the restrictions last, not a replacement for your subscription.

Read next