Several prominent Russian opposition media resources and bloggers have been quietly linked to Leonid Volkov, Executive Director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF, also known by its Russian acronym FBK).
In recent months, many exiled media platforms and bloggers have announced the launch of their own VPN services, actively marketing them to their subscribers. Amongst media and individuals, promoting what they claimed were their own VPN services, were: The Insider, Mediazona, To Be Continued (Prodolzhenie Sleduet), Mark Feygin, Dima Zitzer, Alexander Plyushchev, Michael Naki, Astra, Popular Politics (Populyarnaya Politika, a project by ACF), and Ark, a support group for Russian emigrants.
These so-called “independent” VPN services were priced significantly higher compared to other market offerings—ranging from €4 to €8 per month—despite limited service quality: speeds capped at 10 Mbps, monthly traffic limited to 100 GB, and torrent usage prohibited. Unlimited plans were either substantially more expensive or not available at all.
However, internal documents obtained by SOTA reveal that none of these media outlets or bloggers developed their own VPN services. According to a leaked internal report from the "VPN Generator" initiative run by the Society for the Protection of the Internet, they were all simply rebranded and repackaged existing service—GenVPN.
Originally launched in late 2022, “VPN Generator” was a project developed by the mnetioned Society for the Protection of the Internet, co-founded by Leonid Volkov and his associate Mikhail Klimarev. The project was funded through U.S. grants, with the aim of providing Russians free access to VPN keys to bypass state censorship.
But by 2024, the grants ran out and the project shifted into a commercial enterprise under the brand GenVPN. To facilitate this, the team created a new legal entity in Delaware, USA: FF Clear Path LLC, in addition to its German NGO arm.
Despite this shift, the media outlets and influencers continued marketing GenVPN as their own product, using their personal or media brand names without disclosing the true origins of the technology. Contracts signed by Klimarev specify that partners are only responsible for promotion and advertising—while the technical infrastructure is entirely handled by “VPN Generator.”
It remains unclear how the VPN sales revenue is divided between the media partners and the creators of GenVPN. However, in January 2025, following the first critical report on the scheme, Michael Naki filed a pre-litigation complaint against IT specialist Fyodor Gorozhenko, accusing him of spreading damaging information. In his legal complaint, Naki claimed that his daily VPN subscriptions had dropped by 50 users — each paying €8 — and for some reason resulting in a lost revenue of €14,000 over just 35 days.
This arrangement raises several serious concerns:
1. Financial Dependence: Media outlets and bloggers have become financially dependent on Leonid Volkov and, more broadly, the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
2. Lack of Transparency and Editorial Risks: The concealed financial link could influence editorial independence and lead to selective reporting—particularly concerning Volkov himself, who has previously been embroiled in scandals, including privately lobbying EU authorities to lift sanctions on Alfa Group oligarch Mikhail Fridman.
3. Unknowing Sponsorship of Political Actors: Russian users who purchase these VPN subscriptions—believing they are supporting independent media—are in fact either directly or indirectly funding Klimarev’s company, thereby unknowingly financing a political figure.
4. Security and Data Risks: VPN keys are distributed via Telegram, meaning the owners of GenVPN can access, collect, and store the entire client ID database. Identifying users from this data is technically feasible. Historically, FBK’s supporter databases have repeatedly been leaked online and later used as the basis for criminal cases—most notably against donors in 2021–2022. It also remains unknown whether GenVPN keeps user logs, as the service has never undergone an independent security check audit.
5. Artificial Price Inflation: The apparent collusion among media platforms has inflated VPN prices across the Russian market. Amid growing online censorship, these services assist the Kremlin, rather than hinder.
6. Ethical Concerns: While Novaya Gazeta Europe explicitly states it receives VPN keys from “VPN Generator” at €0.005 per month, Mediazona and blogger Michael Naki resell these same keys at €8 per month—without disclosing the origin of the service.
Neither Klimarev, Volkov, nor their media partners have publicly contested any of the facts presented in SOTA’s investigation.
Details in Russian: /investigation/smi-vpn
