Russian investigators have begun citing the use of VPNs, messages that are automatically deleted, and hidden contacts in messengers when seeking to have suspects and defendants sent to pretrial detention. Human Rights Council member Eva Merkacheva said that such methods of protecting privacy can now be interpreted as “methods of conspiracy”.
This was reported by Novaya Gazeta Europe, citing Human Rights Council member Eva Merkacheva. According to her, investigators can now present ordinary privacy protections as “methods of conspiracy”.
Previously, when seeking to have a person remanded in custody, investigators mainly referred to the seriousness of the alleged crime, the risk of flight, or the possibility of pressure on witnesses. Now, according to Merkacheva, these arguments are being supplemented by the use of VPNs as well as hidden contacts in messengers.
Merkacheva said that many people enable automatic deletion of correspondence for practical reasons, for example to free up phone memory. She emphasized that this function can be interpreted as an attempt to hide information from law enforcement.
In July 2025, Vladimir Putin signed a law that recognizes the use of a VPN when committing a crime as an aggravating circumstance. In April, Verstka reported that Russian courts had begun applying this law in practice. According to the publication, the first ruling was issued by a court in the Tula region in December 2025. A local resident was found guilty of illegal drug possession; the court took into account that he had accessed a blocked website via VPN as an aggravating circumstance and sentenced him to 1 year and 8 months in prison.
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