How to use Proton in Russia?

VPN
1

I bought a membership and tried to connect but it just keeps spinning.
I also tried to use the stealth protocol but it does not work.

Did anyone had any success using Proton in Russia?

Edit: I did contact the Proton support before posting this. Why the down votes?

2

I don’t have much direct experience, but it looks like it’s a known problem: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonVPN/comments/w38o35/connections_from_russia_being_blocked_again/

3

You’re better off renting a super cheap VPS in Europe and use SSH included SOCKS proxy to browser internet.

4

If the question is still relevant, I made a guide how to bypass Russian vpn block for proton. Take a look: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonVPN/comments/1e3bmbc/a_guide_to_unlock_using_protonvpn_using_amneziawg/

5

I am not a big fan of ProtonVPN, but Stealth works fine with almost any provider. However, Proton themselves are not interested in supporting Stealth on Linux, so they won’t be getting my money next year. I’m too tired of their empty promises and marketing bullshit.

The only thing I like in Proton is SimpleLogin, and Proton has no credit for that. Moreover, SimpleLogin is not being developed under Proton. It seems the project is dead like NextDNS, someone just forgot to turn off the servers.

6

Thanks, but this doesn’t offer a solution or officially say that Proton does not work in Russia.

I did contact the Proton support, only thing they said was to use the stealth protocol and that they are trying to obscure the connection so that Russian ISP won’t disable their service.

7

Yes, as there is a targeted, government-backed blocking, there is only so much we can do. Namely, in the summer of 2022, Russia made blocking Proton VPN a priority, came after us in state media, and actively launched a campaign to take down our services in Russia. This battle continues to this day. In spite of this, we are still doing whatever we can to provide our services to Russian users, as well as other places where similar things are happening.

8

Yeah there’s no good answer here. The Russian government wants Proton to not exist. https://archive.is/3GXW2

Proton can try stuff, but if the anti-vpn side controls all the infrastructure providing companies, it gets much more difficult.

Depending on how Russia is blocking things, it might help to look into VPNs that don’t have a fixed set of IP addresses, but maybe something where you can spin up your own VPN server on a too-big-to-block network like AWS using instructions like these https://towardsdatascience.com/how-to-create-a-free-vpn-server-on-aws-655ca3b3ff32 or Run Your Own Private VPN Server | DigitalOcean VPN Hosting ; though it all depends on how the VPNs are being blocked. Also running your own VPN can come with issues, if VPNs are illegal and you are running your own VPN vs. using some commercial product. I don’t know what personal risks you would be incurring if you went this route, so buyer beware.

If you have friends outside of Russia, and they are willing to help, they can also look into setting up a Tailscale exit node on their networks and adding you to their Tailnet so that you can access the network that way. With this, again as long as the protocol isn’t blocked and you have access to your friend’s IP, you can use their internet connection as the VPN exit node.

Last, you can look into getting some things available offline. Kiwix is good for downloading wikipedia and older english language books offline. I’m not sure what all else is out there. I know I’ve been saving content offline for a little while now, to make sure I wouldn’t lose access if the worst were to happen.

9

Proton may or may not work in Russia, there’s no definitive blanket answer. Generally Russian govt bans Proton but your ability to connect using different servers and protocols will depend on your specific ISP and network. Some people report Stealth mode works for them, others say it doesn’t.

10

Thank you guys for trying to keep Proton up in Russia