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this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2023
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I see! So, to quote the sources you provided:
"Despite widespread speculation, the law does not directly ban the operation of VPNs and anonymisers. However, it does restrict access to banned websites with the help of these tools."
I.e. the VPN providers themselves are not illegal, though the VPN providers technically have to not allow users to access content listed by rospotrebnadzor. That's responsibility on the side of the providers, not a ban on use. Practically speaking it still is attempting to censor content, but neither of the three sources claim that VPN use is illegal in Russia.
You can argue as much as you want, but the full usage of a vpn is illegal in russia by law, because you could access real informations instead of their bullshit propaganda.
Yes you can install it freely and "use" it to a certain degree to browse on pages uncle Putin allows you, but you can't use it completely without any restrictions, e.g the definition of real usage in my opinion. So in my understanding the (full) usage of a vpn is prohibited by law in russia.
And they are now actively blocking protocols...so 🤷♂️
Don't get me wrong, I think those restrictions are horrible and Putin is a tyrant, but it's irresponsible to say that VPNs are illegal. They are not. People should use them to access alternative media like Meduza instead of accepting that there's only state media. VPNs are still incredibly useful and we shouldn't play into the scare tactics of the Russian government by insinuating that you can end up in jail by using VPNs. I think that's coming, too, but these tools are still available to get around lots of the censorship. As you yourself noted, most of the VPN providers aren't actually complying with the law, so you can access way more material, without current legal repercussions to the individual, at least based on the sources you provided.