VPN services are used for many things, some legal, some not so lawful. One of the advantages of VPN services is accessing information from a country whose internet service does not allow that information to be seen. This is probably why the demand for VPN services has swelled by nearly 2,000% in Russia.
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According to Atlas VPN, VPN services are in high demand in Russia. VPN installs originating from Russia have seen a significant spike between February 1st and the 28th. The biggest jump was seen on the 24th of February as Russia pushed into Ukraine. But as the chart shows, the 16th is when it started trending upward slowly.
On February 25, VPN installs rose by 241% above the average. The next day, on February 26, VPN installs originating from Russia sky-rocketed by 1,076% over the norm. Still, this was not the end, as the following day, VPN installs went off the charts, soaring 1,906% higher than the mean.
The demand declined by a considerable margin but remained high on the last day of February.
We predict that the interest in VPNs will remain at these heights for the upcoming weeks. However, if major events continue, we could see numbers ascending even higher.
Internet restrictions in Russia are stringent, even if they are not at the same level as those in China.
The mass media regulations in Russia have been introduced to restrict harmful content, mostly related to drug use and suicide.
However, according to Freedom House, these regulations have been routinely abused to censor criticism of the government or local administrations.
In addition, they also restrict a range of social media and communication platforms. The legality of VPNs in Russia.
While the use of VPN services is legal in Russia, you will be hard-pressed to find a provider that offers servers in Russia. The federal government has been tightening its grip on VPN providers since 2017 when President Putin signed a bill outlawing the use of certain VPNs.
Atlas VPN
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