From Russia without a VPN

From Russia, AI Creator API works without a VPN and without a foreign card: the API has a second address, https://api-ru.aicreator.app, and the balance is topped up with a ruble card. The key, the models, the paths and the balance are shared by both addresses.

Which address to use#

The main address, https://api.aicreator.app, goes through Cloudflare, which is not reachable everywhere in Russia: a request may not get through, or an answer may be cut off midway. https://api-ru.aicreator.app takes requests on a server in Russia and passes them on itself, so no VPN is needed. If you work from Russia, use it from the start.

Setting up the tools#

Everything is as in the usual setup; only the address changes. For Claude Code it goes without /v1, for the others with it.

Claude Code#

Set the variables and run claude. What each one means and how to keep them in ~/.claude/settings.json is in the Claude Code setup.

unset ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://api-ru.aicreator.app
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=sk-aic-…
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL=claude-opus-5-5
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL=claude-sonnet-5-5
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL=claude-haiku-5-5
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_FABLE_MODEL=claude-fable-5-2
claude

Check#

If this address returns the model list, the key and the address work:

curl https://api-ru.aicreator.app/v1/models \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AIC_API_KEY"

Ask for long answers as a stream, as on the main address.

Paying from Russia#

The balance is topped up in the dashboard with a ruble card or crypto, from $1 to $1000. With a ruble card the amount is computed at the exchange rate at the time of payment, and the balance gets exactly the dollars you asked for. With crypto the payment service may refuse an amount below its own minimum. There is no subscription: you pay only for the tokens you used.

Every model’s price is on the pricing page; how money is charged is in Billing and usage.

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