Russia's VPN Crackdown Sparks Banking Outage

Russia's intensifying crackdown on virtual private networks and the Telegram messaging app has triggered widespread disruptions, including a nationwide banking outage and interruptions to the platform's internal payment system, according to Telegram founder Pavel Durov. The events unfolded in early April 2026, as authorities escalated efforts to enforce online restrictions amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.

On April 3, major Russian banks such as Sberbank, VTB, and TBank experienced severe service failures. Payment terminals displayed errors, automated teller machines ceased dispensing cash, and mobile banking applications went offline for several hours. The outage affected daily transactions across the country, prompting the Moscow Metro to allow free passage through turnstiles and forcing some businesses, including a regional zoo, to accept only cash payments. Technical experts, including Fyodor Muzalevsky of IT security firm RTM Group, attributed the issues to the government's VPN-blocking measures, which erroneously targeted IP addresses linked to banking infrastructure.

Durov directly connected the banking failure to Russia's VPN restrictions in a post on his Telegram...