Overview
- Mobile carriers have disabled topping up Apple IDs from phone balances, blocking a popular way for iPhone users to pay for apps and VPN subscriptions after bank cards stopped working for many foreign services.
- Digital minister Maksut Shadaev says his ministry is tasked with reducing VPN use and prefers not to impose direct penalties on users, calling the current approach a compromise.
- Operators were told to start billing for international data above a 15 GB monthly cap from May 1, according to multiple reports, which targets VPN traffic because networks struggle to reliably identify VPN connections.
- Platforms face pressure to block logins from users on VPNs, and a draft decree would strip noncompliant IT firms of preinstallation rights, tax breaks, and even staff mobilization protections by removing them from the state IT registry.
- Local reports from Rostov-on-Don describe tests of home internet that only loads government-approved sites, with users saying VPNs did not restore access, signaling a push toward stricter network controls after new blocks on Telegram and other services.