Amid internet blocking in Russia in early April, users began discussing another way to bypass restrictions: accessing blocked resources through foreign SIM cards and eSIMs. According to Baza, requests for virtual SIM cards from foreign operators have risen to the hundreds of thousands in recent weeks. Mobile-Review, citing an unnamed operator, also reported that 9,000 roaming SIM cards appeared on its network within two days.
Sarkis Darbinyan, co-founder of Roskomsvoboda and a cyber lawyer, said the method can work because of basic agreements between operators in different countries. One of the key principles, he said, is Home Routing: when a subscriber connects to a network abroad, the local operator confirms with the home operator that the SIM is valid and roaming is allowed, while the traffic is routed through the network of the SIM card’s country of origin.
If a foreign SIM or eSIM is used inside Russia, the traffic goes through an operator in another country, and Russian filtering rules do not apply to it, Darbinyan says.
Still, the method has clear limits. A physical SIM must first be obtained, for example in Turkey or Uzbekistan, and roaming remains expensive. According to Baza, 1 GB may cost about 450 to 900 rubles, 10 GB about 1,350 to 1,800 rubles, and 30 GB around 3,000 rubles. In addition, since November 2025, Russia has imposed a 24-hour blocking period on SIM cards entering the country, after which they are reactivated only after verification.
Darbinyan says the authorities could also make this route harder without banning it outright. One option would be to pressure operators into revising roaming agreements, which would prevent a device with a foreign SIM from registering on the network. Another weak point for eSIMs is profile download: if the profile is activated before entering Russia, it usually keeps working, but downloading and connecting a new eSIM inside the country may be difficult. The harshest scenario, the expert says, would be an order restricting or shutting down data transmission altogether. In that case, foreign eSIMs would stop working as well.