Spring 2026: SIMs, internet, VPN, Telegram - border by Murmansk, by Pskov

antoniob

I took few days off last week. Went like this: Oslo -> Kirkenes->Murmansk->SPb->Pskov->Riga->Oslo.

these entry and exist stamps (18.03.2026 -25.03.2026): Borisoglebsk to Storskog in Norway is the border point near Kirkenes, Shumilkino to Luhaama in Estonia one the border point by Pskov. Borisoglebsk requires regular paper visa, e-visa not accepted.

about these border points:

Storskog-Borisoglebsk is still the easiest and fastest of all Schengen-Russia border. Was there last time couple years ago, and no change, very swift crossing. Norway is Schengen but not EU, maybe the reason they don't harass with customs. Both border points (Norway, Russia) were crossed in 15mn. Also there are no full-size coaches, only vans with a dozen seats.
Luhaama (Estonia) ie. Shumilkino (Russia): since end february until end may, Estonia operates reduced working hours 07:00-19:00, no longer night crossing 24/24. They say temporary, so there is a risk it will become permanent. What it changes is that there is no more the same coach driving all the way. Instead a 07:00 coach in Pskov until the border. It drops people at the end of the road where lorries are parked on the side waiting their turn. You walk up to the first barrier, where there was a first sorting of people, depending if ukrainian stamps or not in the passport. Passports with ukrainian stamps were redirected to FSB interview. Not my case, so I walked ahead to the main building for customs inspection, then to the outer kiosk for vehicules passport control. Then you walk the few hundred meters to the Estonian post, first the passport control, then customs, that was superficial (but then I had one bag only). Then you walk up to the beginning of the road, there is a coach sign, where people are picked. The schedule was to drive off to Riga around 09:30. But we waited 2 hrs more for the two russians with ukraine connections that were being screened by FSB. And it was a wednesday on a half empty coach. The point here is that it is risky to have a plane departure from Riga early afternoon. Happily I had mine at 18:00.

antoniob

now practicalities about SIM cards, internet and VPN.

my Norwegian SIM was enabled SMS+data after 24hrs.
my Russian SIMs (I am on Gosuslugi + biometrika), Megafon, MTS, Beeline, were re-enabled SMS+data as soon as I logged into the respective account of mine on the teleoperator app. No need to call nor solve a captcha.
internet:

it is segregated, and authorities now do cap Telegram to a point it is unusable without a proxy.
Recent versions of Telegram can use a proxy for redirecting traffic internally.
You have to pick a provider of such proxies.
I will illustrate with ChatVPN.
Main page after you join the bot:

the menu:

you type /tgproxy and it shows a list of links:

you tap any link and it loads the list inside the Telegram settings for proxies:

settings for this will become now available when you tap the main menu ie. the three points in the top corner:

and when tapping the bottom "Proxy" line the parameters:

so, I could use Telegram fully all the time, with various speeds, depending the load on the proxies.

the drawback is that these proxies are in the EU, so if you are member on Telegram of a channel banned in EU, then it will not be accessible.

next comment about internet in general and VPN

antoniob

so internet is segregated, some sites are banned. As I don't use american stuff like Facebook, X, Instagram & co. I don't care about these, yet many sites are banned, or foreign traffic down, depending where you are. Murmansk and Pskov are in important military regions so potentially more affected by severe limitations, specially Pskov, because nearby drones activity in the Baltic and subsequent 4G shutdowns and electronic russian counter-measures.
If so at the moment, no 4G at all excepted white listed practical apps like Yandex Navigator, Go, Tutu, RZD, Ostrovok, etc.

Otherwise, for general internet, VPN that do by now work, are little known ones that use some specific stealth protocols, mostly VLESS. This is prone to change, as it is a cat and mouse game with Rozkomnazdor..

In Telegram, there are by now several providers, often with few days free trial, then day/week/month payment. Cheap. Either you have a MIR card, or you use crypto.

for illustration couple of such VPNs:

you follow the instructions, often there is an app to download, Happ, that is used for the connection from the links provided inside the TG bot.

I didn't have the time to try a recent VPN system: Nym. The way it is designed it may work.

Irena

Thanks a lot for this detailed report, atoniob. Really valuable first-hand info. Much appreciated!

antoniob

you are welcome. I will add screenshots from the phone with my regular SIM (norwegian), illustrating the 24hr block of the roaming. When I cross a border, my operator sends a SMS with information about rates.
This one was telling "Welcome to Russia. Here is useful price information. etc":

the details of the SMS show when it was send, and when it was received:

send the 19.03.2026 at 05:38 . So after I switched on the phone, but SMS received the 20.03.2026 at 06:19. Indeed just a bit after 24hrs blocking.

consumption on my operator control panel lists a very small billing for use in Russia. For that SMS. I did not use it otherwise, but then it tells it works just fine:

as for the rate, if I had no russian SIM and had to rely on my home SIM, for comparison, Russia is in the same tarif category than for instance Canada. Prepaid packs, cheaper than metered consumption on the go, are the same: 623NOK ie. ~ 55€ for 5GB data: