You can set up a "self hosted" VPN on a cloud service like Linode but you still would have to pay for their service which is $5 US a month for 1TB of traffic. the advantage is that you can make sure there are no logs and once it's setup it's fairly maintenance free. This guide is a bit older but i used back then which worked. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxpX_mubz2A&t=685s. PS i don't use it anymore but would if my situation changes.
edited to add "self hosted"
That NATO official already has retracted and apologized for that statement. Fuck putin and fuck russia. They aren't going to get a thing except the contempt of the world.