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Ask HN: Which VPN provider should one use from Russia?

39 points by faebi ↗ HN
I have some non-technical relatives in Russia, and they have started to feel the need to use a VPN for their average internet activities. Is there any recommended company to get a subscription from? I assume the sanctions will be a limiting factor in terms of variety and quality. Or is it better that I, as an outsider, pay the subscription and they just start using it from Russia? I hope we can keep the conversation non-political because I just want to help my relatives remain as free and informed as possible, despite the situation.

So, which VPN provider should one use from Russia?

22 comments

[ 4.4 ms ] story [ 54.7 ms ] thread
cyounkins
I can't speak to availability from Russia, but Mullvad is frequently recommended.
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easrng
Tor, while not a VPN, is more likely to be able to connect out with bridges and pluggable transports like snowflake. Also, it's free.
benbristow
Slow though for the most parts. And you wouldn't want to be congesting the TOR network for the likes of media consumption (e.g. YouTube) as it may be required for other people in more need.
hda111
Not sure if it works within Russia but Mullvad is easy to use and has good mobile and desktop apps.
Nasreddin_Hodja
Russians are more concerned with buckwheat price now rather than VPN.
yucky
AirVPN does not log and last I checked the warrant canary was still good.
cf141q5325
No commercial one given the legal situation. Self host something on a vps
MerelyMortal
Why do they feel the need to use a VPN?

Is using a VPN going to paint a target on them?

nacs
Russia is now blocking a bunch of sites like Twitter, Instagram and western news orgs after the invasion started.
unmole
You could just rent a cheap cloud server, install WireGuard and hand your relatives WireGuard QR codes.

That's what I did to help my colleagues stuck in China.

sberder
Is wireguard a viable solution to go through DPI?
unmole
I don't know what kind of DPI Russian ISP's deploy. WireGuard used to go through China's Great Firewall when it first became available. I don't know what the situation is now
patrakov
I don't think there is a good answer to this - given that MasterCard and Visa are blocked, i.e. that one can't pay for the VPN without external help. Free VPN providers are going to be enumerated and blocked. I think the most practical solution would be to get Tor (email to gettor@torproject.org to get a personalized non-blocked download link, or get Orbot from F-Droid on Android while it still works), and use it with a non-public obfuscated bridge.

If you still have a foreign SIM card with sufficient balance (or can order one through Vietnam while paying with a Mir card), try to use it, this is also an effective (but expensive) censorship circumvention device even in mainland China.

P.S. I have already relocated to the Philippines, so the advice above does not apply to me.