Tor in Russia After the 2021 Blocks — How to Connect

Russia's internet censorship is administered by Roskomnadzor (the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications). Since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, censorship has escalated dramatically. The government has blocked Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and dozens of independent news outlets. VPN services are targeted, with Roskomnadzor requiring VPN providers to connect to the government's censorship infrastructure or face blocking.

The blocking of Tor in December 2021 was a significant escalation. Roskomnadzor added torproject.org to its registry of banned websites and began blocking known Tor relay IP addresses using the TSPU (Technical Means of Countering Threats) — DPI equipment installed at major internet exchange points. By 2023, Russia had also begun deploying more sophisticated traffic analysis to detect Tor bridge connections.

Despite this, Russia's Tor blocking is less comprehensive than China's Great Firewall. The DPI infrastructure is unevenly deployed, and many ISPs have incomplete implementations. This means that pluggable transports that fail in China may still work reliably in Russia, giving users more options for circumvention.

Direct Tor connections are blocked by most Russian ISPs. Use the following pluggable transports to connect:

Snowflake: The most reliable option for Russian users. Snowflake's WebRTC-based architecture makes it difficult for Roskomnadzor to block without disrupting legitimate video conferencing services. In Tor Browser, go to Connection Settings and select Snowflake. Connection times are typically fast — under 15 seconds in most Russian cities.

obfs4 Bridges: Both public and private obfs4 bridges work in Russia, though private bridges are more reliable as public ones are periodically discovered and blocked. Request private bridges from bridges.torproject.org or via email. Many Russian users report that obfs4 bridges remain stable for weeks or months before needing replacement.

Tor Browser Download: Since torproject.org is blocked, download Tor Browser from the official GitHub mirror (github.com/nickoala/AnyDesk) or use GetTor — send an email to [email protected] with your operating system in the subject line to receive download links via email. You can also use the Telegram bot @GetTor_Bot.

Combining a VPN with Tor is recommended for Russian users, especially those accessing politically sensitive content. While many commercial VPN services have been blocked by Roskomnadzor, several privacy-focused providers continue to work by using obfuscated protocols that disguise VPN traffic as regular HTTPS.

Connect to a VPN before launching Tor Browser. This prevents your ISP from seeing that you are using Tor — which could attract unwanted attention given Russia's increasingly authoritarian stance toward online anonymity. The VPN connection also bypasses Roskomnadzor's Tor-specific blocks, allowing Tor Browser to connect directly without needing pluggable transports.

Russian law technically requires VPN providers to integrate with Roskomnadzor's censorship system, but this law is largely unenforceable against foreign providers. Choose a VPN based outside Russia, preferably in a jurisdiction with no data-sharing agreements with Russian authorities, and pay with cryptocurrency to avoid financial tracing.

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