Russia dropped an AI plan targeting 95% VPN-blocking effectiveness

Russia’s Digital Development Ministry considered adding an artificial intelligence system to the country’s national AI plan through 2030. The draft proposal aimed to analyze 70% of VPN services Russia blocks and raise blocking effectiveness to 95%, according to Kommersant, which reviewed the draft. The ministry said the current version contains no such proposal.

The 95% figure referred to blocking effectiveness, not accuracy. A separate Roskomnadzor subsidy decision sets a target of 92% effectiveness for restricting VPNs by signature matching by the end of 2030. Verstka reported that the proposed AI system would raise that same measure to 95%.

The proposal’s removal does not mean Russia’s filtering effort has stopped. Forbes Russia reported that Roskomnadzor planned to spend 2.27 billion rubles, around $29 million, in 2026 on machine-learning traffic filtering. The source says that funding sits outside the national AI plan.

Experts consulted by Kommersant warned that traffic analysis could also flag legitimate connections. A source familiar with the discussions said existing traffic-analysis algorithms are not considered AI. The proposal would have used indirect signals such as packet size and timing, session length, and inbound-to-outbound traffic balance to identify likely VPN servers.

At least 10 VPN providers reported tighter restrictions in the week after September’s State Duma elections, according to the source. The report notes that blocking is intensifying with or without an AI mandate.