Russian courts have started applying a new law under which the use of a VPN is recognized as an aggravating circumstance. Media outlet Verstka drew attention to this after finding two such cases.
Screenshot: Verstka
The first ruling was issued by a court in Tula Region in December 2025. A local resident was found guilty of illegally purchasing drugs. The court said the man had accessed a blocked website that works only through a VPN. This was taken into account as an aggravating circumstance, and the defendant was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison.
The second case was heard by a court in the Komi Republic in February. A local resident was given a three-year suspended sentence under a drug-related article. The use of a VPN was also treated as an aggravating circumstance: through it, the man accessed the blocked website of an online store and paid for the drug.
OVD-Info told Verstka that they are currently unaware of any political cases with such an aggravating circumstance. Lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov of Pervy Otdel told journalists the same.
The use of a VPN was added to the list of aggravating circumstances in July 2025.