VPN is now required to access Wikipedia in Russia
Daniel
2026-08-28
Read time
2 minutes
On the night of August 28, Russian internet users faced massive difficulties when trying to open the popular online encyclopedia. Over 500 complaints regarding the website's availability were registered, with disruption reports submitted regularly every few minutes. It was revealed that the resource practically stopped opening for users in Russia who do not use tools to bypass blocks.
Mikhail Klimarev, head of the Internet Protection Society, reported that the resource's availability dropped to approximately 50 percent. According to existing information, connection anomaly rates reached nearly 100 percent for the Russian segment and about 75 percent for the English segment, though the latter subsequently decreased. The expert concluded that the platform was likely blocked, noting that this global resource, which receives 27 billion monthly views, was one of the last major unblocked websites in the country. However, no official statements from regulators have been issued.
History of pressure and government demands
Previously, government bodies had repeatedly raised complaints against the encyclopedia. State Duma representatives, including Nina Ostanina and Oleg Matveychev, called for banning the resource, accusing it of distorting historical facts and conducting an information war. Deputy Anton Gorelkin also warned of potential access restrictions due to articles about methods for bypassing internet blocks published on the portal. Valery Fadeev, head of the Human Rights Council, also advocated for creating a domestic alternative. A local project named Ruwiki was launched, copying about 2 million articles and requiring investments of 2 billion rubles, though it currently remains unprofitable.
Pressure on the encyclopedia's creators had been ongoing for a long time. In December 2023, the non-profit organization Wikimedia RU, which supported the Russian segment, ceased operations due to personal pressure on the project's director. The US-based Wikimedia Foundation, which owns the resource, was also regularly fined by Russian authorities for refusing to remove certain materials.
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