11 min read
The short answer: in most countries popular with Russians, you need a VPN not because of local blocks, but to open Russian banks, Gosuslugi and online cinemas, which since April 2026 cut off logins both from foreign addresses and with a VPN. Serious blocks of their own exist in China, Iran, Turkmenistan, Turkey, the UAE and Egypt. Below is a table of 28 countries as of October 5, 2026: what's closed there, how Russian services work from there and what a VPN user risks.
There are two reasons, and they're opposite. The first: local blocks, such as Discord in Turkey, WhatsApp calls in the UAE or almost the entire Western internet in China. The second: Russian services that refuse access from abroad.
The second problem got worse in spring 2026. According to Expert on April 27, 2026, the Ministry of Digital Development explained that since mid-April Gosuslugi, Sber, Yandex, VK, Ozon and Wildberries restrict logins when a VPN is on. On April 21, 2026, vc.ru wrote that tourists in Turkey, Egypt, Thailand and Vietnam see the message "It looks like you have a VPN turned on" even on hotel Wi-Fi, while in CIS countries there are almost no such complaints.
The data is compiled from official statements, media and Freedom House reports. "No data" means we didn't find a reliable source, not that there are no restrictions. In the column on Russian services, Kinopoisk comes first: according to Yandex's help pages, subscription films are only available in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Uzbekistan, while in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan only the encyclopedia is open.
| Country | What is blocked (2025–2026) | Russian services from there | VPN: law and risk for the user | More |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belarus | About 15,000 resources (as of February 2025), independent media; VK was closed for several hours on 24.10.2025. Telegram, YouTube, Instagram work | Kinopoisk works, no mass complaints | Providers have been required to block anonymizers since 2015. We found no fine for the VPN itself, but people are punished for subscribing to "extremist" resources | what is blocked in Belarus |
| Kazakhstan | About 150 VPN service sites, some news sites. Roblox, Telegram, WhatsApp are not blocked | Kinopoisk works | VPN sites closed, no article against the user found | VPN in Kazakhstan |
| Uzbekistan | Twitter, TikTok and VK restricted on 02.07.2021; current status differs between sources | Kinopoisk works | No data | blocks in Central Asia |
| Kyrgyzstan | TikTok since April 2024; conditions for unblocking discussed on 04.06.2026, no decision | Kinopoisk works | No data | blocks in Central Asia |
| Tajikistan | Sites critical of the authorities; in Khorog after the 2021 protests there was no internet for almost 4 months | Kinopoisk: encyclopedia only | No data | blocks in Central Asia |
| Turkmenistan | According to Wikipedia and human rights groups, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, VK, WhatsApp, Viber; more than 122,000 domains | Kinopoisk: encyclopedia only | High risk. VPN users are interrogated, an arrest is known; security services impose "their own" VPNs | blocks in Central Asia |
| Azerbaijan | Since 04.03.2022 kremlin.ru, mid.ru, sputnik.ru, rbc.ru did not open; no data on the 2026 status | Kinopoisk works | No data | — |
| Armenia | According to Freedom House (2024), sites and social networks were not blocked | Kinopoisk works | No restrictions found | VPN for relocants in Armenia, Georgia and Serbia |
| Georgia | Few blocks, pressure on online media is growing (Freedom House, 2025) | Kinopoisk works | No restrictions found | VPN for relocants in Armenia, Georgia and Serbia |
| Turkey | Discord since 09.10.2024, Wattpad, Roblox formally; 8 of 10 VPN sites; eSIM stores | Tourist complaints of "VPN is on" | Legal to use | VPN for Turkey |
| UAE | WhatsApp, FaceTime, Telegram calls; messaging works | Kinopoisk subscription unavailable | There is a risk. Law No. 34/2021 punishes IP spoofing to commit a crime: a fine of up to 2 million dirhams and prison | calls in the UAE |
| Egypt | Roblox since 04.02.2026; WhatsApp calls on mobile internet; VPN sites since 2017 | Tourist complaints of "VPN is on" | Gray zone: Art. 14 of Law 175/2018 punishes access to a blocked site; VPNs are not named in the text | VPN in Egypt |
| Qatar | Roblox since 13.08.2025 | Kinopoisk subscription unavailable | No data | — |
| Oman | Roblox since June 2025 | Kinopoisk subscription unavailable | No data. VPN blogs write about a ban on personal VPNs; we did not find the primary source | — |
| Iran | Blackout 08.01–26.05.2026, strict filtering after it | Kinopoisk subscription unavailable | High risk. In February 2024 Khamenei ordered a ban on circumvention tools, including VPNs | VPN for Iran |
| Tanzania | During the elections from 29.10.2025, X, WhatsApp, Instagram were unavailable | No data | No data | — |
| Afghanistan | Fiber cuts and a full blackout 15.09–01.10.2025 | No data | No data | — |
| China | Google, WhatsApp, Telegram, YouTube, Instagram | Kinopoisk subscription unavailable | High risk. An unauthorized VPN is illegal; we found no cases against tourists | VPN for China |
| Vietnam | Telegram since June 2025 (block order from May 2025) | Tourist complaints of "VPN is on" | No data | Telegram in Vietnam |
| Thailand | 717,425 casino addresses for 01.10.2025–20.05.2026 | Tourist complaints of "VPN is on" | No data | — |
| Indonesia (Bali) | Since 28.03.2026, social networks and Roblox for under-16s | Kinopoisk subscription unavailable | No data | — |
| India | Since late 2024, several VPNs (Hide.me, PrivadoVPN) were removed from stores at the authorities' request | Kinopoisk subscription unavailable | Legal; since 2022 VPN providers must keep user data for 5 years | VPN in India |
| Myanmar | Severe restrictions on the internet and media since 2021 | No data | High risk. Since 01.01.2025, unauthorized installation or provision of a VPN carries up to 6 months in prison and a fine | — |
| Nepal | 26 platforms closed on 04.09.2025 and reopened on 09.09.2025 after protests | No data | No data | — |
| Pakistan | X was blocked from 17.02.2024 to 07.05.2025 | No data | No data | — |
| Serbia | Few blocks; in 2025 Freedom House downgraded its status to "partly free" | Kinopoisk subscription unavailable | No restrictions found | VPN for relocants in Armenia, Georgia and Serbia |
| Cuba | On 18.09.2026, more than 80% of base stations went down due to a power grid failure | No data | No data | — |
| Venezuela | Signal, VPN sites, some media; X was blocked from August 2024 to January 2026 | No data | No data | — |
We found a direct risk for an ordinary user in Turkmenistan, Iran, Myanmar and China. In the other countries in the table, either VPN sellers are punished, or people are punished for the content itself that they accessed.
Turkmenistan stands out. According to Azatlyk on September 6, 2025, in Dashoguz province Ministry of National Security officers together with police check phones in schools and institutions and summon VPN users en masse for interrogation; at least one sentence of arrest is known. Smartphone sellers are forced to install VPNs created by the Ministry of National Security itself for customers, and third-party services are identified through these servers. The Times of Central Asia wrote on August 12, 2026 that VPN keys are sold there on the black market for about 50 dollars a month. We do not give circumvention instructions for Turkmenistan.
Oman is often named as a country where personal VPNs have been banned since 2010 and fined. We found no primary source other than articles by VPN services, so the table says "no data". If you're going to Oman for a long time, check the rules with the telecom operator or the consulate.
Myanmar, since January 1, 2025, punishes "unauthorized installation or provision of a VPN service" with imprisonment of up to 6 months and a fine (Radio Free Asia, 02.01.2025). China considers an unauthorized VPN illegal, but according to the 2026 Travel China Cheaper travel guide, foreigners have not been punished for it. Details are in VPN in countries with strict blocking.
Yes, a VPN as such is legal in the UAE, but the law punishes using it to commit a crime. Article 10 of Federal Law No. 34/2021 provides for a fine of 500,000 to 2 million dirhams and prison for spoofing an IP address in order to commit or conceal a crime (Gulf News, 23.12.2024).
Back in 2016, the TRA regulator clarified that companies and banks may use VPNs to access internal networks. The gray zone begins with calls: a lawyer in Khaleej Times (12.03.2023) considered that calling through a VPN in blocked messengers violates the rules. Legal options for calls are covered in calls in the UAE.
Three things get in the way: territorial licenses, VPN detectors and roaming. A VPN with a Russian address gets around the first, the second is triggered by most VPNs, and the third can help or hinder. A general overview by service is in Russian services abroad.
A practical option for banks and Gosuslugi: split tunneling, in which Russian apps bypass the VPN.
A VPN works on top of the internet, so it's useless when connectivity is cut. That was the case in Iran (January–May 2026), in Afghanistan (September 2025), in Tanzania during the elections and in Cuba, where on September 18, 2026 more than 80% of base stations stopped without electricity.
A VPN also won't bring back payments with Russian cards: Visa and Mastercard cards of Russian banks haven't worked abroad since March 2022. It doesn't change your App Store region and doesn't protect you from local law: if access to a site is prohibited, a VPN doesn't make it legal.
BessyConnect runs on the VLESS protocol with Reality camouflage: the traffic looks like an ordinary HTTPS connection, so it's harder to tell apart from visiting an ordinary website. There are more than 100 servers, no logs, no required registration and no device limit. There's a trial period.
Download the app:
The app isn't in the Russian App Store: to install it on iPhone you need an Apple ID from another country. Do this before your trip. An honest limit: BessyConnect won't help during a complete internet shutdown, won't bring back payments with Russian cards and doesn't guarantee access to services that block any VPN. In countries that punish users, like Turkmenistan, the decision to use a VPN remains your risk.
Does a tourist from Russia need a VPN in Turkey? Rarely for local restrictions: Discord, Wattpad and VPN sites are blocked, while Instagram, YouTube and Telegram work. More often a VPN is needed for Russian services that refuse access from Turkey.
In which countries is a VPN banned? From our table, the strictest rules are in Turkmenistan, Iran, Myanmar and China. In the UAE and Egypt a VPN as such isn't banned, but using it to commit a crime or to access blocked content is punishable.
Do I need a VPN in Belarus and Kazakhstan? For most tasks, no: Telegram, YouTube and WhatsApp work there. Independent media and the sites of many VPN services are blocked, while Kinopoisk and Russian banks usually open without a VPN.
Why does Sberbank say "turn off VPN" abroad? Since mid-April 2026, major Russian platforms restrict logins when a VPN is on. Split tunneling or roaming on a Russian SIM card helps. Step-by-step breakdown: Sberbank Online abroad.
Will a VPN help if the internet is shut down in the country? No. A VPN encrypts an existing connection, and during a blackout there is none, as was the case in Iran in January–May 2026.
BessyConnect is a VPN for Telegram: restore chats and calls when Telegram isn't working. The VLESS+Reality protocol bypasses blocks and DPI on all devices. More
BessyConnect is a VPN for WhatsApp that restores voice and video calls when they're blocked. The VLESS + Reality protocol beats DPI. Get it for iOS and Android. More
BessyConnect is a VPN for Discord: get into Discord when it's blocked and restore voice, streams and screen sharing on PC and mobile. VLESS+Reality beats DPI. More
