The Washington Post - USA (2022-05-07)

SATURDAY,MAY 7 , 2022 .THEWASHINGTONPOST EZ RE A

warin ukraine

dent arrests on Radio Liberty,
which is fundedbythe United
States.
“Wedidn’t know whatwas
going on aroundus. That’s true
again now,”said Konstantin,
who,likeotherRussianVPN
users, spokeonthe condition
thathis lastnamebe withheld
for fearof governmentretribu-
tion. “Manypeople in Russia
simply watch TV andeat whatev-
er the government is feeding
them. Iwanted to find out what
wasreally happening.”
Daily downloadsin Russiaof
the 10 mostpopularVPNs
jumpedfrombelow15,000just
beforethewar to as manyas
475,000 in March. As of this
week, downloadswerecontinu-
ing at arateofnearly 300, 000 a
day, according to data compiled
for TheWashington Post by the
analyticsfirm Apptopia,which
reliesoninformationfromapps,
public data andan algorithmto
comeup withestimates.
Russian clients typically
download multiple VPNs,but the
data suggests millionsof new
users per month.InearlyApril,
Russian telecomoperator Yota
reported thatthe numberof VPN
users wasover50timesashigh
as in January, accordingtothe
Tass statenewsservice.
TheInternetProtection
Society,adigital rightsgroup
associated withjailedRussian
oppositionleaderAlexei Naval-
ny,launched itsown VPNservice
lastmonthand reachedits limit
of 300, 000 userswithin 10 days,
according to executive director
MikhailKlimarev.
Based on internalsurveys, he
estimates thatthe number of
VPNusers in Russiahas risento
30 percent of the 100million
Internet users in Russia. To com-
batPutin, “Ukraineneeds Javelin
and Russians needInternet,”
Klimarevsaid.
By accessingbanned Ukraini-
an andWesternnewssites,
Konstantinsaid,hehas come to
deeplysympathizewithUkraini-
an President Volodymyr
Zelensky, aformercomedianthe
Russian press has sought to
falselyportray as a“drug addict.”
He wasrecently comparedto
Adolf Hitlerby Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“I loved himas an actor,but
now IknowZelenskyisalso
bravebecause I’ve seenhim talk
on Ukrainiannewssiteswithmy
VPN,” Konstantinsaid.
Notonlydoes widespread
VPNuse helpmillionsof citizens
reach materiallayingout the
trueextentof Russian military

VPNFROMA

losses and countering the official

portrayal of thewar as afight

against fascists, sayRussian

Internetexperts, it alsolimits

government surveillanceof ac-

tivists. Russian officials have

sought to curtailVPN use.Alaw

in 2017 resulted in the banning of

morethanadozenprovidersfor

refusing to complywith Russian

censorshiprules.

In the days beforethe war,and

in theweeks since then,Russian

authorities have alsoratcheted

up pressure on Google,asking

the searchenginetoremove

thousandsof Internetsites asso-

ciated withVPNs,accordingto

the Lumendatabase, an archive

of legal complaints relatedto

Internet content.Google,which

did not respondto arequestfor

comment, still includesbanned

sites in searchresults.

TheRussiangovernmenthas

been reluctant to ban VPNs

completely.Policingsuchaban

wouldposeatechnologicalchal-

lenge. In addition,manyRus-

siansuse VPNsto accessnonpo-

liticalentertainmentandcom-

municationtools,populardis-

tractionsfromdailyhardships.

Last month, when asked on

Belarusiantelevisionif he had

downloadedaVPN,evenPutin

spokesmanDmitryPeskov con-

ceded:“Yes, Ihave. Whynot?”

Since the war began,more

than1,000 Internet sites have

beenrestrictedby Russianau-

thorities, includingFacebook,

Instagram,BBC News, Radio

Liberty and VoiceofAmerica,

according to asurveybyaVPN

technologytracker.The lastin-

dependentRussianmediaout-

lets wereforcedto shut down,

andthoseinexile that are offer-

ing criticalcontent, such as the

popular news site Meduza,have

alsobeen banned.

Today, even callingthe Rus-

sian“specialoperation,”asPu-

tin has forciblydubbed the

invasion, a“war”risksa

sentenceof up to 15 yearsin jail.

Free speechhaseffectivelydis-

appeared, and even teachers

whoquestiontheinvasionare

beingreportedto theauthori-

ties by theirstudents.

“People wantto seebanned

content,but Ithink they’realso

genuinely scared,” saidTonia

Samsonova, aRussianmediaen-

trepreneur based in London.“No

matter yourattitudetoward the

governmentorthe war,every

Russianknowsthatifthe gov-

ernmentknowstoo muchabout

you,it’spotentially dangerous.

So aVPN is so useful even if they

aren’tcritical of Putin.”

KaterinaAbramova, spokes-

womanfor Meduza,saidonline

trafficatthe sitedeclinedonly

briefly after it wasbannedby

Russianauthoritiesin March.

Trafficbegansurgingfromun-

likely countrieslikethe Nether-

lands,suggesting thatRussians

were utilizingVPNsthatmade

them appear to be abroad.

“VPNswon’t startabroadrevo-

lutionin Russia,”she said.“But

it’s away people whoare against

thiswarcanstay connected to

the world.”

Natalia, an 83-year-oldMusco-

viteand former computer opera-

tor,asked her adultdaughterto

helpherdownloadaVPNonher

laptopshortly after the war start-

ed. Shefeared thatthe govern-

mentwouldban YouTube, pre-

venting her from seeing her

favorite program, an online talk

showabout technologynews.

TheKremlinhas yettoblock

YouTube,thoughRussian Inter-

netexperts saythe probability

remains high.

Yetasthe warprogressed,

Nataliafoundherselfalsolook-

ing at bannednewssites,includ-

ing RadioFree Europe, to stay

informed,even as friendsaround

her bought“totally”intothe

government linethatUkrainians

wereNazisand Russiawasfac-

ing an existentialthreatfromthe

West.“Peoplenow justbelievelie

after lie.Ifeel so isolated,”she

said.

Nataliasaid, for instance, that

she has beenableto readforeign

news stories suggestingthere

weresignificant Russian casual-

tiesinthe sinkinglastmonthof

the Moskva,the flagshipof the

RussianBlackSeaFleet.But the

Russianpresshas reported only

oneofficial death, with27sol-

diers declared“missing.”

“Parentsare justgettingone

answer from the Ministryof

Defensethatyoursonismiss-

ing,” shesaid.“Missing?Don’t

you reallymean dead? But

they’re notsayingthat. They’re

not telling thetruth.”

Although downloadingaVPN

is technically easy,usually

requiring onlyafewclicks,

purchasingapaid VPNhasbe-

comecomplicated in Russia, as

Western sanctions have ren-

deredRussiancreditand debit

cardsnearlyuselessoutside the

country. That has forcedmanyto

resort to freeVPNs,whichcan

havespottyserviceandcansell

information about users.

VytautasKaziukonis, chief

executive of Surfshark —a

Lithuania-basedVPNthatsaw a

20-foldincreaseinRussian

usersinMarch—said someof

thosecustomersare nowpaying

in cryptocurrencies or through

peopletheyknowin thirdcoun-

tries.

In acountryusedtohard-

ships, Russiansare good at cre-

ativeworkarounds.Elena, a

50-year-oldMoscowtouropera-

tor,said she has managedtotap

intoher old Facebookaccountby

repeatedlysigningupfor free

trials withseveral different VPN

providersto avoid payment.“We

do whatwehavetodo,”Elena

said.

Russians are using VPNs to access blocked information

WOJCIECHGRZEDZINSKIFOR THE WASHINGTONPOST

Destructioninthe Ukrainian town of Borodyankalastmonth. Russiansare using virtualprivatenetworks to readthe truth aboutthe war.

Source: Apptopia THE WASHINGTON POST

VPN downloadsin Russiasurgedafter the country

blocked websites

Feb.

2022

March April May

0

100K

200K

300K

400Kdownloads

279,

Daily downloadsof the 10 mostpopular VPNs spiked in the days after

Russia invaded Ukraine and imposedrestrictions on information about

the militarycampaign

Feb. 24

Russia

invades

Ukraine

BYLIZSLY,

KAROUNDEMIRJIAN,

TIMOTHYBELLA

ANDELLENFRANCIS

riga—UkrainianPresidentVo-
lodymyr Zelenskyoutlined his
conditions Fridayfor entering
peacetalkswithRussia,demand-
ing arestoration of preinvasion
borders,the returnof morethan
5millionrefugees,membership
in the EuropeanUnion andac-
countabilityfromRussianmili-
taryleadersbeforeKyiv would
considerlayingdownits arms.
Zelensky’s slate of require-
ments,whichhe listed duringan
online forum organized by
Chatham House,are in direct
conflictwiththe militaryobjec-
tivesRussianleadershave articu-
lated as theybear downon the
Donbas region and southern
Ukraine—inflictingadditional
casualtiesFridayinapparentvio-
lationof acease-fire.
They alsocomeas Ukraineand
its Western alliesawait possible
pronouncements or dramatic
shifts on thebattlefield by the
Kremlin before Monday, when
Russia observes VictoryDay,
commemorating the surrenderof
Nazi Germanyand the end of the
Europeanfrontin World WarII.
Newcurfews have been an-
nounced in Zaporizhzhia, a
Ukrainianenclave thatabutsre-
gionsexperiencingheavy fight-
ing,while the mayor of Kyiv,
Ukraine’s capital, warned resi-
dentsto be readyfor increased
missile attackson theholiday.
Britian’s DefenseMinistry, mean-
while,warnedFridaythatRussia
wouldprobablytrytocomplete
its takeoverof theportcityof
Mariupol—whereasmallcadre

of forcesand civilians remain

holedup in the Azovstal steel

plant—before the VictoryDay

celebrations.

Russia’sForeignMinistrydis-

missedspeculationit mighttryto

deployanuclearweapon,noting

its doctrineon thatpointwas “not

applicableto implementingthe

taskssetduringthe specialmili-

taryoperation in Ukraine.”But

therewere signsthatRussiawas

takingaseriesof softer power

steps to assertits dominancein

Ukrainianareasin whichit has

claimedcontrol.

Municipalworkers werepho-

tographedreplacingroad signs

aroundMariupol in Ukrainian

script with signs in Russian

script,days after reports andim-

ages beingsharedonlineindicat-

ed thatRussianauthoritieshave

forcedresidentsof Kherson,an

areajustnorth of Crimea, to shift

theircurrencyfromthe Ukraini-

an hryvniato the Russianruble.

Russia haslongjustifiedits

incursionsintoUkraineby saying

it is protectingthe rightsof Rus-

sianspeakers in easternregions.

PresidentBidenis expected to

mark Monday by signing the

Ukraine DemocracyDefense

Lend-LeaseAct, abill thataimsto

speedup the processby whichthe

UnitedStates can sendweapons

to Ukraine.That bill-signingwill

happenaday after Bidenis sched-

uledto meetvirtually withZel-

enskyand the leaders of the

Groupof7nationsto discuss the

situationon the ground.

Ukrainehas seenan enormous

influxin pledges of weaponsas-

sistancesincebeatingbackthe

Russianadvancein the north of

the country.

TheUnitedStates has already

sentthe “vast, vast majority” of

the90howitzersit committed to

provideUkraine,as wellas ap-

proximately 60 percent of the

144,000artilleryroundsit had

pledged to supplythoseweapons

systems, Pentagon spokesman

John Kirbysaid.On Friday, Ger-

manypledged to sendan addi-

tionalseven howitzersystemsto

helpKyiv,whileU.S. officialsan-

nouncedtheywould send nearly

$140 millionmore in aerial

drones,laser-guidedrockets, bin-

ocularsand othersupportitems.

But the pipelineis not unlimit-

ed. On Friday, Bidenannounced

thatthe UnitedStates wouldbe

sendinganotherpackageof“ad-

ditionalartillerymunitions,ra-

dars,andotherequipment”for

Ukraine,but saidthe government

had“nearlyexhausted”congres-

sionallyapprovedfundingthat

couldbe usedto sendmorehelp.

Earlieron Friday, Kirbysaidthat

the administration hadapproxi-

mately $250millionin drawdown

authorityleft.

Bidenhasrequested an addi-

tional$33 billionin Ukraineaid,

nearlytwo-thirdsof whichwould

be dedicated to securityspend-

ing.Kirby hassaid thatpackage

shouldcarryUkraine throughan-

otherfive months of fighting.

Congresshasnotyetapproved

the funding,and thereare con-

cernsabouthowquicklydefense

contractors wouldbe ableto meet

the government’s demandsto re-

plenishU.S. stockpilesto ship

Ukrainewhatitneeds.

“This is prettyunprecedented,

the amountof munitionsthatare

beingusedrightnow,” the Penta-

gon’sacquisition chief, Bill

LaPlante,toldreportersFriday.

He saidtheUnitedStates and

Europewillbe “reexaminingour

assumptions”aboutfuturelevels

of weaponsproductionneeded

duringpeacetimeto avoid being

caughtflat-footed,“whereall of a

suddenwe find ourproduction

linesneedto be boosted up.”

Internationalleadersappearto

be bracingfor an extendedperiod

ofconflict,warningonFridaythat

the globalthreats posedby Rus-

sia’sinvasionof Ukraine could

metastasize in the weeks and

monthsahead.EuropeanUnion

foreignaffairschiefJosep Borrell

told theAssociated Press thathe

is “verymuchworried”Russia

couldtry to invade Moldova,

whichborders Ukraine to the

west. Russiaalreadyhasamili-

tarypresencein Transnistria,a

narrow breakawayregionthat

runs alongmuch of Moldova’s

borderwithUkraine.

AmnestyInternational re-

leased acomprehensive report

Fridaynoting“compelling evi-

dence”ofwar crimesin the Ukrai-

nianvillageofBucha,including

“apparent extrajudicial execu-

tions...recklessshootings,and

torture.”Amnesty’s seniorcrisis

responseadviser,Donatella Rove-

ra,noted that the findingswere

“verymuch partofapattern

wherever Russianforceswerein

controlof atownor avillage.”

TheUnited Nations warned

thatnearly 25 milliontons of

grain intended for exportwas

stuck in Ukraineas aresultof the

fightingthere,whichhas crippled

infrastructureandresultedin a

blockadeof portcitieslikeMari-

upol.

Ukraine,normallyoneof the

world’slargest exporters of

wheat, alsohas accusedRussia of

“stealingtheirgrainen masse”

from farmers. Either way, the

shortfallsintheglobalexportsare

expected to causepriceshocks,

accordingto U.N. officials,and

could exacerbate resourcecon-

flicts elsewherein the world.

Demirjianand Bella reported from

Washington, D.C., and Francis

reported from London.Mariana

Alfaro,DanLamothe,ClaireParker

and AdamTaylor in Washington, D.C.;

MaryIlyushina in Riga, Latvia;and

David L. Stern from Mukachevo,

Ukraine,contributedto this report.

Ukraine lays out peace-talk demands as the West braces for escalation

Zelensky’sconditions

in directconflict

with Russianobjectives

UESLEIMARCELINO/REUTERS

Kateryna Golovachuk, 65, shows damagetoherhousethat shesayswas the result of Russianshelling

in the Zaporizhzhia region,where newcurfews have beenannounced.

“Thisis pretty

unprecedented,the

amountof munitions

that are beingused right

now.”

Bill LaPlante,acquisitionchieffor

the Pentagon