Every day since the start of Russia’s large-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, the UK Ministry of Defense has published its assessment of the situation in the conflict. On August 10, 2023, it is about Russia’s main vulnerability.
Via X, formerly Twitter, the UK Ministry of Defense writes: “Over the past week, Russian authorities have likely increased their efforts to disrupt Russian citizens’ access to virtual private networks (VPNs). According to reports, many of the most popular VPNs have become unusable in some regions of Russia. VPNs allow users to disguise their access to the Internet, protect their privacy, and circumvent government censorship. VPNs are very popular in Russia, although they have been illegal since 2017. They allow users to access objective international news sources, including about the war in Ukraine.”
The statement from London continues: “VPNs probably represent the single biggest vulnerability in the Russian state’s attempts to comprehensively control information in its own country. In addition to increasing technical disruption, the Russian state has also launched a public information campaign, attempting to scare citizens by claiming that they are putting their personal data at risk through VPNs.”
Image: Kremlin.ru, Vladimir Putin at the site Donguzskjj (2015-09-19) 10.jpg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (image size changed)
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