7 min read
Brawl Stars doesn't work in Russia because of Supercell itself, not because of Roskomnadzor. On March 10, 2022, the company pulled its games from the Russian App Store and Google Play, disabled in-game purchases and, with the following updates, cut off access for clients that were already installed. That is why the game freezes on the loading screen: its servers don't accept connections from Russian addresses. A VPN changes the address you connect from, and the game loads. It won't help with the app store, though, and we explain why below.
Demand is huge: queries like "vpn for brawl stars", "vpn for brawl" and "vpn stars" add up to more than 200,000 impressions a month in Russian search (Yandex Wordstat, August–September 2026).
When it starts, the game client connects to Supercell servers for authorization, version checks and update downloads. If the request comes from a Russian IP, the server doesn't respond the way the client expects, and loading stops, usually around the middle of the progress bar.
Telling this apart from an ordinary fault is easy:
| What you see | Cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Loading always stops at the same point without a VPN | Region block on Supercell's side | Turn on a VPN with a server outside Russia |
| It loads with a VPN, but lags | The VPN server is far away or overloaded | Pick a closer country, see the ping section |
| It doesn't load with a VPN either | Old cache, outdated client, or the VPN itself isn't working | Clear the game cache, test the VPN on another site |
| "Update required", but there's no update in the store | The game isn't in the Russian store | A VPN won't help, you need a store from another country |
Three things matter for the game, and none of them is "a hundred countries in the list".
A stable connection. Free one-button VPNs often drop the connection when the network changes (Wi-Fi to mobile data). In the game that means getting kicked out of a match. You need a client that keeps the tunnel up through network switches.
A nearby server. Every 1,000 km of distance adds about 10 ms of ping (round trip) just from the speed of light in fiber, and real routes are longer than a straight line. From central Russia, Finland, Poland or Germany are sensible choices. More on picking a location: which country to choose in a VPN.
A protocol that isn't being cut. In Russia, plain OpenVPN and WireGuard are blocked by signature. If the VPN keeps disconnecting, you can't play at any ping. Modern protocols like VLESS with Reality camouflage look like ordinary HTTPS to filters, so they hold up better. How it works: Reality and VLESS in plain words.
If it still hangs, check that the VPN itself works: open any blocked site or check your IP on a lookup service. Five quick tests are collected in the article how to check that your VPN works.
This is the main point almost every guide misses. The app store region is set by your account, not by your IP address. With a VPN on, a Russian Apple ID or a Russian Google Play profile still sees the Russian storefront, where the game isn't listed.
In practice this means:
In-game purchases with Russian cards haven't gone through since 2022, and a VPN doesn't change that: the payment system sees the card, not the IP.
Brawl Stars is a fast game, and latency is noticeable. Rough guide:
The VPN adds the trip to its server and back. So you shouldn't look for "the fastest VPN" but for the nearest server your provider has a good route to. Try two or three countries and compare the in-game ping shown in the corner of the screen during a match. When a VPN helps in games and when it gets in the way, we covered separately in VPN for gaming.
Short answer: no. As long as Supercell blocks Russian addresses, you can only play from Russia through a VPN or a proxy. Tips from videos like "how to play Brawl without a VPN" usually come down to one of three things:
BessyConnect runs on VLESS with Reality camouflage: the connection looks like ordinary HTTPS traffic, so it doesn't drop where OpenVPN and WireGuard get cut. There are more than a hundred servers, including Finland, Poland, Germany and Turkey, so you can choose the country with the lowest ping for you. No logs are kept, registration isn't required, and there's no device limit: one account covers both your phone and the tablet your kid plays on.
The honest limit: a VPN restores access to the game servers, but it doesn't open the Russian store and doesn't process payments with Russian cards.
Why doesn't Brawl Stars work without a VPN? Supercell left Russia in March 2022 and blocked access to the game servers from Russian IP addresses. Without a VPN, the client can't authorize and freezes on the loading screen.
Which VPN is best for Brawl Stars? One that keeps a stable connection in Russia and has a server close to you. For central Russia that's usually Finland, Poland or Germany. Camouflaged protocols such as VLESS Reality drop less often than OpenVPN and WireGuard.
Can I download Brawl Stars through a VPN? Not if your store account is Russian. The App Store and Google Play region is set by the account, not the IP, so you need an account from another country to download it.
Will my account get banned for playing through a VPN? We couldn't find an official Supercell position on VPNs for players from Russia, so no guarantees can be given. A much bigger and very real risk is third-party APKs and "mods" with free gems: they're used to hijack accounts.
Why does Brawl Stars lag with a VPN? Because the VPN server is far away or overloaded. Pick a country closer to you and compare in-match ping on two or three servers.
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