Best VPNs for Ukraine in 2023

If you’re currently based in Ukraine, considering the ongoing events, you should definitely get a VPN service for online protection. Cybercrimes, such as DDoS attacks, are only increasing, and users are in need of more privacy and security. Also, now it’s especially important to be able to safely transact funds.

However, finding a solid Ukraine VPN provider with unbreakable encryption, extra security features, and a reliable no-log policy can be really, really hard. Especially when looking for an affordable or free service.

Knowing that many Ukrainian users are having huge issues with money, we made a list of the best VPNs for Ukraine in 2023 to fit anyone’s budget and security needs. Some of the mentioned providers offer free emergency VPN services for journalists.

Top 5 best VPNs for Ukraine – our shortlist:

1. Surfshark – best VPN for unlimited devices in Ukraine
2. NordVPN – best VPN for top-notch security in Ukraine
3. IPVanish – affordable VPN for complete anonymity in Ukraine
4. Atlas VPN – free mobile-focused VPN to use in Ukraine
5. ProtonVPN – free VPN with solid speeds and security

The best paid VPNs for Ukraine – our detailed list:

Below you’ll find our list of the best paid VPNs for Ukraine. We examine them in detail together with their security features, unlimited simultaneous connections, privacy policies, pricing, and more.

1. Surfshark – best paid VPN with unlimited connections

Based in:	British Virgin Islands
Servers/countries:	3200 servers and 100 countries
Simultaneous connections:	Unlimited
Free plan:	No

Visit Surfshark VPN

All benefits considered, Surfshark is relatively cheap. With prices starting from $2.30/month, you’ll get great protection and anonymity for all of your family or friends. And if you’re a journalist, Surfshark has got your back and will provide you with a VPN for free.

Surfshark is one of the best VPN choices for Ukraine because of many reasons, one of them being security. This VPN ensures first-rate protection and anonymity with its military-grade AES-256 encryption and a strict no-logs policy.

On top of that, you get a reliable kill switch which means that if your VPN connection drops, you’ll be disconnected from the Internet so your data doesn’t leak. Surfshark uses RAM-only servers, meaning that all data is cleared after restarting the server.

One of the tunneling protocols that the provider has to offer is the famous WireGuard. Not only does it ensure great security, but it’s also responsible for Surfshark’s exceptional speeds.

The best part about Surfshark is that it offers unlimited simultaneous connections. This means you can share the service with all of your family members and their devices without any additional cost.

With this provider, you get 3200 servers in 100 countries, including Ukraine. The best coverage is in Europe and Asia.

If you wish to learn more, you can read our in-depth Surfshark VPN review.

2. NordVPN – best paid VPN for top-notch privacy protection

Based in:	Panama
Servers/countries:	5500 servers and 60 countries
Simultaneous connections:	6
Free plan:	No

Visit NordVPN

If you’re a journalist, NordVPN will provide you with free emergency VPN services for 1 month (with the possibility to expand it). All you have to do is contact their customer support.

NordVPN is a paid VPN service that won’t disappoint you in terms of protecting your identity in Ukraine. It uses one of the strongest encryptions on the market, protects from DNS, IPv6, and WebTRC leaks, and has an independently audited no-logs policy.

Its security suite includes two types of a kill switch – system-wide and for specific apps. This means that you can customize it to either shut down your Internet connection or an individual app. NordVPN servers run on RAM, meaning that every time the server is restarted, your data is wiped out – there’s virtually nothing to steal.

The provider has its own version of the WireGuard tunneling protocol – NordLynx. It’s an upgraded version that offers a great combination of speed and security.

With NordVPN, you can get up to 6 simultaneous connections. You can use it on all of your devices and/or share it with someone else. It’s also worth mentioning that the provider offers 5500 servers in 60 countries. The best coverage is in Europe, with over 20 servers in Ukraine.

If you wish to learn more, you can read our in-depth NordVPN review.

3. IPVanish – affordable VPN for the whole family

Based in:	United States
Servers/countries:	2000 servers and 50 countries
Simultaneous connections:	Unlimited
Free plan:	No

Visit IPVanish

IPVanish is on the cheaper scale, with prices starting from $3.99/month. Considering you get solid security and can use it on an unlimited number of devices, the price is very competitive. For now, IPVanish hasn’t publicly stated whether they have any offers for Ukrainians or journalists.

IPVanish is a great option for those who are looking for a paid but affordable VPN service to use in Ukraine. In terms of security, you get the market standard AES-256 encryption. As for privacy policy, the provider promises that they don’t keep logs of anything except your email address and payment method.

With IPVanish, you also get a kill switch that is customizable. It even lets you block LAN traffic, meaning it will shut the device off from the local network devices. If you want to hide the fact that you’re using a VPN, you’ll make use of the traffic obfuscation feature.

With the implementation of the WireGuard protocol, the speeds of IPVanish have also improved, letting it compete with some of the top VPN providers in the industry.

What’s great about IPVanish is that once you purchase the plan, you get unlimited simultaneous connections. You get to use it on as many devices as you wish, making it an excellent solution for keeping all of your family members safe online.

As for servers, IPVanish has 2000 in 50 countries. The majority of server locations are in Europe, yet North America has the most servers included.

If you wish to learn more, you can read our in-depth IPVanish review.

The best free VPNs for Ukraine – our detailed list:

Knowing that the current situation left many without savings, we also made a list of the best free VPNs for Ukraine. We picked out the providers that are trustworthy and ensure good privacy policies, solid security, extra features, and more.

1. Atlas VPN – free mobile-focused VPN for Ukrainians

Based in:	United States
Free locations:	3 – Netherlands and the US (New York and Los Angeles)
Simultaneous connections:	1
Free plan:	Yes

Visit Atlas VPN

To express support and help fight the ongoing war online and beyond, Atlas VPN offers its Premium service for Ukrainian journalists for free! You can find more information on how to claim it here.

Ukrainians who are concerned with their online security can make use of Atlas VPN – one of the best free VPNs on the market. It offers 10 GB of data and solid security. Aside from using the unhackable AES-256 encryption, Atlas VPN also gives free users a kill switch, which isn’t common among free VPNs. You can find out more about free AtlasVPN here.

And even though Atlas VPN is based in the United States – a country that isn’t very concerned about your privacy, it still ensures a strict no-log policy.

Unlike other top VPN services, Atlas VPN doesn’t have WireGuard implemented. Its main focus being mobile users, the tunneling protocol it uses is IPSec/IKEv2. It’s not as good as WireGuard but can be faster than OpenVPN.

Since the service is free, there are few server options, including Netherlands – Amsterdam, as well as USA – New York and Los Angeles. Because many users share the same few servers, they may be overcrowded and affect speed. However, it’s great that Atlas VPN doesn’t put connection speed limits on the free version.

To learn more about this provider, you can check out our in-depth Atlas VPN review.

2. ProtonVPN – free VPN with solid speeds and security

Based in:	Switzerland
Free locations:	3 – Netherlands, Japan, and the US
Simultaneous connections:	1
Free plan:	Yes

Visit ProtonVPN

The free version of ProtonVPN is one of the best choices for Ukrainians as it offers unlimited data, bandwidth, and has quite a few security benefits. This includes the standard AES-256 encryption and the WireGuard tunneling protocol. You can download it for free right on their site.

What’s interesting is that the free version even includes a kill switch and DNS leak prevention, ensuring a much safer online experience.

Since the service is based in Switzerland, there are no laws that demand to store user data, therefore ProtonVPN doesn’t keep any logs.

If you get ProtonVPN for free, you’re going to have three location choices – Japan, Netherlands, and the US. Of course, free servers are usually high in traffic, which doesn’t promise great speeds. ProtonVPN also has a speed limit for free users, inviting them to upgrade in order to have high speeds.

On top of everything else, ProtonVPN recently stated on their Twitter account that they’ve committed to donating 10% of their revenue to relief efforts in Ukraine.

If you wish to find out more about this provider, check out our ProtonVPN review.

3. Windscribe VPN – feature-rich VPN for Ukrainians

Based in:	Canada
Free locations:	11 – Germany, US, Canada, France, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Switzerland, UK, Turkey, and Hong Kong
Simultaneous connections:	1
Free plan:	Yes

Visit Windscribe VPN

Windscribe VPN is a free, feature-rich, and secure VPN for Ukraine. While the data limit for the Windscribe free plan is 10GB, it offers journalists extra free data, as claimed on the Twitter account.

Like all VPNs on this list, the provider uses the AES-256 encryption – one of the safest out there. And although it’s based in Canada, which belongs to the Five-Eyes alliance, it ensures a no-logs policy.

Aside from that, Windscribe VPN offers a vast choice of tunneling protocols, including IKEv2, OpenVPN, Stealth, and WStunnel. It’s even possible to set up WireGuard manually but only on Android devices.

Moving on, the security features include a kill switch, ad-blocking, the possibility to set up a secure hotspot, and the multi-hop feature. The latter lets you connect to two servers, helping you hide your IP address better. You also get a free SOCKS5 proxy and the timezone spoofing feature.

With the free version of Windscribe VPN, you’ll get servers in a total of 11 countries – Germany, US, Canada, France, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Switzerland, UK, Turkey, and Hong Kong. Compared to most free VPN services, that is an outstanding number.

Plus, to help the people currently in trouble, the provider offer an improved free plan for Ukrainians, so they can continue to safely access the internet, despite the awful circumstances. Use the coupon code ПИЗДЕЦ at the free plan checkout to get secure online connection and 30 GB of monthly data, entirely free of charge.

To learn more about this provider, you can visit our Windscribe VPN review.

How we selected and tested these VPNs

Having in mind the recent events in Ukraine, when choosing these VPNs, we put focus on top-notch security and affordability. Of course, there’s a difference in the quality of security between paid and free VPNs. That’s why we only chose providers that offer the best free VPN services that can be trusted.

However, if you want to find the right VPN to use in Ukraine, you should have in mind its:

• Privacy policy. It’s crucial that a VPN provider doesn’t collect information about you as it would defeat the main purpose of the service – keeping you anonymous. That’s why only providers with strict no-log policies made the list.
• Security. All of the VPNs provided on the list use the AES-256 encryption. Being used by the federal government and institutions, it’s one of the strongest encryptions on the market. Aside from that, we also review the tunneling protocols offered, with the top priorities being WireGuard and OpenVPN.
• Features. The more features a VPN has for protection, the better. To make sure you get the best security tools possible, we looked for VPNs that include a kill switch, traffic obfuscation, DNS leak protection, or other necessities.
• Usability. We made sure that this list is available for users on any of the most popular platforms. So the VPNs provided are all supported on Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android. Most of them can also be used on Linux.
• Speed. When choosing a VPN, no matter how good it is, you want to make sure it doesn’t slow your device down too much. While a paid VPN is going to have much better speeds than a free one, the services we tested performed well.
• Price. Some VPNs are overpriced but don’t bring much to the table. We managed to find services that fit anyone’s budget while being generous with resources and features.

Why do I need a VPN in Ukraine?

The reason you need a VPN in Ukraine is to protect yourself online. Whether you’re a regular Ukraine resident or a journalist using confidential sources, you want to secure yourself from the increasing cybercrimes. And what better way to do it than use a VPN?

Here’s exactly why you need to get a VPN:

• Hide yourself from your ISP. A VPN hides your activities from your Internet service provider (ISP), meaning there’s no data of yours that they could potentially sell.
• Secure your data. Trustworthy VPNs are using the AES-256 encryption, which means that your data becomes unreadable for any third-party.
• Protect your wifi connection. With the increase in DDoS attacks and cybercrimes, a VPN is an ideal solution that helps avoid such threats.
• Hide your identity. A VPN helps you become anonymous online and no one can get a peek at what you’re doing because your traffic is encrypted.
• Access restricted websites. If any of the websites are blocked in your region, you can use a VPN to change your IP address to look like you’re from a different country. This will let you bypass restrictions with a few clicks.

These are only a number of reasons to get a VPN. On top of security, you can use a VPN for torrenting, fighting malware, streaming, avoiding bandwidth throttling, and many other purposes.

How to use a VPN for Ukraine

Using a VPN is very simple and can be done by virtually anyone. All you have to do to get a Ukrainian IP address is:

1. Get a reliable VPN provider. We recommend Surfshark because it’s affordable, secure, and offers unlimited simultaneous connections.
2. Install the app.
3. Choose an available server. Most VPN providers provide you with a “Connect” or “Quick connect” button that chooses the fastest server available. However, you can also pick a server of your own choice.

4. Click on the server or the Connect button.

That’s it! You’re now anonymous and no third parties can track what you’re doing.

Can I use a free VPN for Ukraine?

Yes, you can definitely use a free VPN for Ukraine but make sure to choose a reliable provider. Some of them can be dangerous and sell your data to third parties or embed malware into your device. However, there are still trustworthy VPN providers out there as some of their business model is to provide a free quality service in order to convert users into paying customers.

While free VPNs can be limiting, they can still do the job. You’re most likely going to have few location choices to connect to, so the servers may be overcrowded. This can negatively affect the speed but using a free VPN is a much better solution than having no VPN at all.

How to save money on a VPN subscription?

If you’re looking to invest into a paid VPN subscription and want to save money on it, you can make use of the discounts that providers offer. VPN services often have deals that can help you get them cheaper. And if you're not sure where to find them, you can check out our VPN coupons to find the latest offers.

On top of that, certain providers also have free trials that you can claim. For instance, you can get a 7-day free trial for Surfshark or a week-long free trial for NordVPN. Not only will you be able to make use of the free service, but you’ll also have enough time to test the product out and figure out whether you’re satisfied.

While there are many expensive VPN providers on the market, not all of them bring you the best value. There are certainly cheaper VPNs available that still include various features, vast server fleets, and other benefits. These include Surfshark, NordVPN, and others. So, always be aware of what the VPN provider has to offer and compare it to other choices on the market.

Conclusion

In these uneasy times, using a VPN in Ukraine is crucial for everyone – citizens, journalists, and their security. With rising concerns about various cyberattacks, a VPN is an ideal solution for hiding your IP address, data, and identity from third parties online.

While there are many VPN services available, not all of them are reliable or can guarantee you high-quality security. Many of them are either overpriced or free but filled with malware.

For this reason, we made a list of the best VPNs for Ukraine in 2023, including services for anyone’s budget. For Ukrainians, our top recommendation is Surfshark. Aside from being among the best VPN providers out there and offering unlimited simultaneous connections, they also provide journalists with VPN services free of charge to express their support during these uncertain times.

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