Putin spokesman says he uses a VPN in Russia, where the news and social media are heavily censored

• Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he uses a VPN because it wasn't "banned."
• Russia has blocked its citizens from accessing Western news outlets and social media over its response to the Ukraine invasion.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said he uses a VPN, as Russia continues to heavily censor citizens' access to the internet and foreign news.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov made the remarks in an interview with the Belarus-1 TV channel — a state-media outlet in Russian-allied Belarus — published Saturday.

The host asked Peskov: "You installed a VPN, right?"

He replied: "Yes of course, why not, it's not banned."

Peskov did not say what he was using a VPN to access.

Russia's government blocked access to Western news outlets like the BBC, Bloomberg, CNN, as well as social media sites like Facebook and Twitter this year, in response to their response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has also been cracking down on the use of VPNs in the country.

Russian news agency Interfax reported in mid-March that around 20 popular VPN services had been blocked in the country, and that officials said more would be blocked soon.

Demand for VPNs has been increasing in Russia after the new internet restrictions due to the Ukraine invasion, Euronews reported last month.