VPN gone from Google Play in Russia: how to install it

In short: Roskomnadzor sends Google hundreds of demands to remove VPN apps, but Google complies selectively and most VPNs stay on Google Play. If the app you need is not there, one that is already installed keeps working, so do not uninstall it. A new one can be installed as an APK file from the developer's official site, or you can switch to another app that uses the same subscription.

What is happening to VPNs on Google Play

• Demands. In March 2026 Roskomnadzor demanded that Google remove 233 apps, more than in any month since 2024. Over two years the total is at least 1,379 services (iStories, from the Lumen database, 8 April 2026).
• Google complies selectively. In spring 2025, of the 212 VPN apps named in demands, only six were unavailable in Russia, and three of those had gone before the demands (GreatFire data).
• Fines. On 25 February 2026 the Tagansky court in Moscow fined Google 22.8 million roubles in six cases.
• Some VPNs have been unavailable for a long time. NordVPN, ExpressVPN, CyberGhost and other big services have not been on the Russian Google Play for years. In April 2025 there were 53 such VPN apps.

VPN clients on Google Play: what we saw on 20 October 2026

We look at the store from outside Russia, so we only see whether an app has a page. Whether it can be installed from a Russian account cannot be checked this way: NordVPN's page opens too, although it is unavailable in Russia.

Do not uninstall an app that is installed

When an app is removed from the Russian section of Google Play, people who already installed it keep it and it keeps working; it just stops updating. If you uninstall it, you cannot get it back from Google Play. So while it works, keep it and install a spare alongside.

How to install an app that is not on Google Play

1. 1Open the developer's official site. Take the address from the service's email, its channel or its old Google Play page, not from an ad or a search.
2. 2Download the APK file and open it from the download notification or from the Files app.
3. 3Android says your browser may not install apps. Tap “Settings”, turn on “Allow from this source” and go back.
4. 4Tap “Install”. If Play Protect shows a warning, check once more where the file came from, and only then continue.
5. 5After installing, turn the permission off: search the settings for “Install unknown apps” and switch it off for the browser.

Our app

ProxysVPN is on Google Play and as an APK file on our apps page. Both have the same sign-in by code and the WataFast mode. You do not need to move a subscription from Happ or INCY by hand: signing in with the code moves the link into our app.

1. 1Install ProxysVPN from Google Play or from the APK file: both buttons are on our apps page, in the Android card.
2. 2Get a sign-in code: in your dashboard, open the device card and press “Code for the app”. The eight-character code is valid for 10 minutes and works once. No account yet? Signing up takes a minute with an email address; Telegram is not needed.
3. 3Open the app, choose sign-in by code and type the code. Android asks for permission to set up a VPN connection: tap “OK”.

The app itself is free; what you pay for is the subscription: $1.50 per device per month, taken from your balance, with nothing charged to your card automatically. Top-ups start at $5. An account opened on the Russian site is priced in roubles instead: an account keeps the currency it was opened in, whatever card tops it up.

Is it legal

Using a VPN in Russia is not banned. In January 2026 Anton Gorelkin, first deputy chair of the State Duma committee on information policy, told Interfax that fines for using a VPN are not planned. Fines are for deliberately searching for extremist materials. Installing apps from outside Google Play is not banned either: it is an ordinary Android feature.

Frequently asked questions