Yandex goes by your IP
Through the VPN, the weather, news and search results switch to the server’s country. Some Yandex services also behave differently outside Russia.
You can pin a city at yandex.ru/tune/geo. A VPN changes only your IP, so if the browser is allowed to use your location, Yandex can still find your city from nearby Wi-Fi networks or a phone’s GPS.
In Russia, turn on For Russia
Tap Tunnel on the app’s main screen and pick For Russia. Russian services, Yandex among them, then go direct, while foreign sites use the VPN. The app pulls the list of Russian addresses from our server.
In this mode Yandex Internetometer (yandex.ru/internet) may show your real address, because Yandex is reached directly. Test the VPN on a foreign site such as ipinfo.io instead. The country there should match the one in Location.
Abroad, pick Russia
Outside Russia it works the other way around. Some Russian sites and services don’t work properly from foreign addresses, so pick Russia under Location, and Yandex will see a Moscow address along with them.
The Russian server page lists what a Russian IP helps with and where it doesn’t.
YouTube next to Yandex
With For Russia on, YouTube goes through the VPN, so videos load while Yandex search still sees your usual address. The YouTube slowdown in Russia has its own article, and so does watching on a computer.
Common questions
Why does Yandex keep asking for a CAPTCHA over the VPN?
Lots of people reach Yandex from the same VPN server address, so it shows CAPTCHAs more often. In Russia, with For Russia on, you reach Yandex from your own address, and CAPTCHAs become rarer.
Do I need a VPN add-on from the Yandex Browser catalog?
No, and turn off any that’s already installed. It sends your tabs to its own server, and sites see that server’s address, not the country you picked in the app.
How do I use a VPN with Yandex Browser on a phone?
Install VanyaVPN on the phone, and Yandex Browser is tunneled with everything else. Tunnel and For Russia are where they are on a computer. Setup for each phone is in our phone guide.