In Russia, VPN Use Was Recognized for the First Time as an Aggravating Circumstance in Committing Crimes

In Russia, VPN use was recognized for the first time as an aggravating circumstance in committing crimes

Courts in Russia have begun applying a new law recognizing the use of VPNs as an aggravating circumstance in the commission of crimes; Verstka found the first two such cases.

In the first of them, the Novomoskovsky District Court of Tula Region issued its decision on December 19, 2025. It found a local resident guilty of illegally acquiring narcotics on a large scale. In particular, the court stated that in October the man was in Novomoskovsk, where he developed criminal intent “aimed at the illegal acquisition of mephedrone” “without intent to sell.”

“Using a software and hardware tool for accessing information resources and information and telecommunications networks to which access is restricted [this is how VPN is defined in the law], he entered the Internet, where on a website he found available a mixture (preparation) containing a narcotic substance,” the decision says.

The defendant admitted his guilt and repented. As a result, the court, guided by paragraph “f” on the use of VPN in Article 63 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on aggravating circumstances, sentenced him to 1 year and 8 months in a general-regime penal colony.

The second such case was heard in February 2026 by the Ukhta City Court of the Komi Republic. A local resident was sentenced under the same drug-related article to three years of suspended imprisonment. The aggravating circumstance was again the use of a VPN, through which the man accessed an online store website and paid for a drug not named by the court weighing at least one gram, which he then found in a stash.

Verstka did not find any other cases involving this aggravating circumstance. The OVD-Info project told Verstka that it is currently unaware of political cases involving such an aggravating circumstance. Evgeny Smirnov, a lawyer with First Department, also told Verstka that he had not encountered cases with aggravating circumstances in the form of VPN use.

🟪The use of VPN was added to the list of aggravating circumstances in Article 63 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in July 2025. The provision itself came into force on September 1 of last year.

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