Russia's VPN Ban Disrupts Payments

The Russian government's attempt to block Virtual Private Network (VPN) services has caused a major technical disruption to the domestic payment and banking systems. Telegram's creator, Durov, stated that this VPN blocking process has disabled digital payment systems used across the country. This has affected the daily lives of millions, and last Friday, due to this issue, even ticket payment systems in the Moscow Metro stopped working, allowing passengers to enter for free. Additionally, several stores and service locations in Russia became unable to accept card payments, forcing transactions to be limited to cash only. Meanwhile, even a regional zoo requested visitors to use cash. This can be seen as an unusual situation for an economy heavily reliant on digital infrastructure.

Durov mentioned in a Telegram message, “This attempt to block VPNs has ultimately caused a major banking failure. Now people across Russia are trying to bypass these digital restrictions.”

He further said that a "Digital Resistance" is emerging in Russia, with people using VPNs and other tools to circumvent technological restrictions. This incident has sparked renewed debate about the Russian government's internet control and digital censorship policies. Notably, it has become clear that blocking VPN services can unexpectedly impact other critical services like banking and payment systems.