Russia is trying to “scare” its citizens into avoiding international coverage of the war in Ukraine, according to UK officials.
The Kremlin is clamping down on the use of “hugely popular” virtual private networks (VPNs), which allow users to mask their whereabouts and bypass state censorship.
Russians are now being warned by their government that their personal data is at risk if they continue to use them.
According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), some of the most popular VPNs have also "become unusable in some regions of Russia” as part of the government crackdown.
In their latest update on the war, the MoD said: “VPNs are hugely popular in Russia, despite being illegal since 2017.
“They allow users to access objective international news sources, including about the war in Ukraine.
“VPNs likely represent the greatest single vulnerability within the Russian state’s attempts at pervasive domestic information control.
“As well as increased technical disruption, the Russian state has also launched a public information campaign, attempting to scare citizens into avoiding VPNs by claiming they put their personal data at risk.”
The development will be seen as further evidence of Vladimir Putin’s concern at how the Ukraine war is going nearly 18 months since Russia’s invasion.
It was revealed earlier this month that at least half of the 30,000 Russian paratroopers deployed to Ukraine have probably been killed or wounded since the conflict began.