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The Bell reports that Vladislav Minakov, a former employee of a Roskomnadzor agency involved in monitoring website blocks, wrote nearly 90% of the code in AIVPN’s latest release. The service is marketed as a way to disguise VPN traffic, but its safety and practical effectiveness have not been established by the reporting.
Vladislav Minakov, a former employee of a Roskomnadzor agency involved in checking internet providers’ compliance with website blocks, wrote nearly 90% of the code in the latest release of AIVPN, according to an investigation by The Bell reported by Meduza on October 28. AIVPN is marketed as a tool for disguising VPN traffic and bypassing government restrictions, making Minakov’s past work a point of concern for specialists quoted in the report.
The Bell’s Maria Kolomychenko examined AIVPN’s GitHub commit history, which records changes to the project. It indicates that a user with the handle vminakov joined in June 2026 and made several hundred changes affecting hundreds of thousands of lines of code. Using the AI model Claude to analyze the latest release, The Bell calculated that the account contributed nearly 90% of its source code and developed most of its key components. The percentage is the outlet’s analysis of the code history, not an independently established measure of authorship.
The report identifies vminakov as Vladislav Minakov, who previously worked at the Main Radio Frequency Center, an organization under Roskomnadzor. His duties included work on the Revizor system, which checks whether Russian internet service providers block websites on official banned lists. He rose to become a technical adviser to the center’s director and left for another job in 2023. His LinkedIn profile says he now heads software development at GlavNIVTs, an organization overseen by the Russian Presidential Property Management Directorate that develops government information systems.
Oleg Kirichenko, an IT entrepreneur from Rostov-on-Don who identifies himself as AIVPN’s creator, told The Bell he met Minakov through GitHub after Minakov submitted a proposed change. Kirichenko said he checked Minakov’s employment history before they began working together, and described the changes as useful. Minakov also confirmed to The Bell that he contributes to AIVPN. He said the project was prompted by difficulties transmitting data reliably and described bypassing blocks as one possible use, rather than its sole purpose.
Why Minakov’s Role Draws Scrutiny
The reporting highlights a tension between AIVPN’s stated use and the background of its principal code contributor. Minakov previously worked on systems used to check whether Russian providers comply with website-blocking rules; he is now helping develop software marketed, in part, as a way to evade such restrictions. That history does not establish that AIVPN is unsafe or that Minakov has acted improperly, but it gives users and security reviewers reason to ask how the service works and who controls it.
For people considering software that routes or disguises internet traffic, trust and technical behavior matter alongside a product’s advertised purpose. A quick review by specialists commissioned by The Bell reportedly found nothing suspicious in the code, but that is not the same as a complete security audit or proof that the service reliably bypasses blocks. The distinction is important: the report documents a development history and competing views, not a finding that AIVPN contains malicious code or is effective in practice.
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AIVPN’s Development and Stated Purpose
AIVPN ads began appearing online in spring 2026. The service says it can disguise VPN traffic so that it resembles ordinary internet traffic and is difficult for deep packet inspection systems to identify. Those systems inspect traffic patterns and are used by authorities and network operators to detect or restrict certain connections. The claims describe how AIVPN is marketed; the report does not establish that the service consistently defeats those systems.
Kirichenko told The Bell that he created AIVPN to help people in countries where access to information is restricted. Minakov offered a broader technical rationale, saying that reliable data transmission can be difficult even between data centers. He said the project had no political or commercial dimension for him and that its code was open for inspection. The report also notes that Minakov’s LinkedIn profile lists a senior software-development role at a government-linked organization, while he described AIVPN as unrelated to his main job.
““I confirmed that he’d worked at Roskomnadzor, emailed him, and asked, ‘Are you seriously trying to barge in here and mess things up?’””
— Oleg Kirichenko, AIVPN’s self-described creator, speaking to The Bell
Security and Effectiveness Still Unverified
The report does not establish whether AIVPN is safe to install, whether its traffic-disguising claims hold up under independent testing, or whether it can reliably get around Russian blocks. The reported code review was described as quick; the source material does not detail its methods, scope, or results beyond the absence of anything suspicious found in that review.
Minakov says AIVPN is unrelated to his main job and has no political or commercial dimension, while critics quoted by The Bell question the project’s trustworthiness and practical value. Those are attributed statements, not proof of a hidden purpose or of technical failure. The reporting also does not explain how AIVPN is funded, who else has access to or reviews its code, or whether its service has been tested against specific blocking systems. The identities behind online accounts and their roles are reported by The Bell; the article provides no independent audit establishing the security of the released software.
Further Independent Review Needed
The report gives no schedule for a formal security audit or for further testing of AIVPN. The next useful developments would be a detailed, independent examination of the released code and published testing of the service’s reliability against the restrictions it says it can bypass. Until then, readers have the outlet’s analysis of GitHub changes, statements from Kirichenko and Minakov, and specialists’ preliminary or critical assessments—not a definitive verdict on the software.
For now, the central confirmed development is Minakov’s substantial contribution, as attributed to The Bell’s analysis. Whether that contribution translates into a secure and effective service remains unresolved.
Key Questions
Who wrote most of AIVPN’s code?
The Bell’s analysis of GitHub changes attributes nearly 90% of the latest release’s code to a user identified as Vladislav Minakov. That percentage is the outlet’s calculation using Claude, rather than a separately verified authorship audit.
What was Minakov’s former role?
He worked at the Main Radio Frequency Center, a Roskomnadzor agency, on the Revizor system, which checks whether internet providers block websites on official banned lists. He left in 2023, according to the report.
What does AIVPN claim to do?
AIVPN is marketed as a service that disguises VPN traffic to make it harder for deep packet inspection systems to identify. The reporting does not independently confirm that the service works reliably against those systems.
Has an investigation found AIVPN to be unsafe?
No such finding is reported. Specialists who conducted a quick review for The Bell reportedly found nothing suspicious in the code, but the review was not described as a full security audit. The software’s safety remains unverified.
Source: rss
