Does DeepSeek work in Russia? Outages vs blocks and what to do
DeepSeek won't open, answers slowly or says the server is busy. What happened with DeepSeek in Russia in 2026, how to tell overload from an access problem, and what helps.
Quick fix. If DeepSeek won't open at all but works abroad, try a VPN. Get Surok in Telegram: 3 days free.
DeepSeek long remained one of the few major foreign AI services that didn't restrict users in Russia. In late May 2026 it stopped opening for many users for almost a day and came back after a Roskomnadzor statement; in summer complaints recurred — direct access failed while VPN access worked, with connections dropping at the TLS stage, typical of filtering. Roskomnadzor denied blocking; DeepSeek gave no explanation.
"Server is busy" is DeepSeek's own overload — wait, turn off deep reasoning, try at night China time; a VPN won't help. Site won't load but works abroad — switch networks or use a VPN. Backups: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini.