Russians Have Rushed To Buy Shatter-resistant Window Films And Insurance Due To The Rise In Drone Attacks
- 10.09.2026, 19:07
War is returning to where it came from.
The growing number of incidents involving Ukrainian drones—which are increasingly exploding near or crashing into residential buildings—is prompting Russians to seek ways to protect themselves from UAVs. Insurance companies are seeing a surge in requests to insure apartments or businesses. Residents are also trying to protect themselves from injury in case windows are shattered by a blast wave, according to The Moscow Times.
Demand for impact-resistant films from the St. Petersburg-based company Solartek—which are applied to glass to prevent shards from scattering—has jumped by 50% this year, the company’s manager, Pavel Levit, told Reuters. According to him, the company—which has offices in 13 regions—counts among its clients both ordinary residents and businesses, as well as government agencies. “This product has become so popular that there is even a shortage of protective film on the Russian market,” Levit said.
Unlike the Russian military, which bombs residential neighborhoods in Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones, the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ drones primarily target infrastructure and military facilities. Nevertheless, as the intensity of the attacks increases, so does the number of incidents involving residential buildings being hit. These can be either debris from a downed UAV or the UAV itself, which veered off course—for example, due to electronic warfare measures. Over the weekend, several residential buildings in Rostov were damaged during a drone attack; according to Mayor Alexander Skryabin, four people were injured.
Russians are also rushing to insure their property en masse. Previously, there was virtually no demand for policies covering drone strikes, but over the past year, the number of inquiries has risen sharply, said Oleg Khanin, CEO of the company “Soyuz Insurance Brokers”:
“We’re sitting in [our Moscow] office, and clients from all over Russia are calling all our phone numbers and writing to all our email addresses.”
The company now offers insurance packages against drone attacks.
According to the Bank of Russia, premiums for home property insurance policies rose by 18% in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2025. One of the main reasons is a surge in demand due to more frequent drone attacks, the All-Russian Union of Insurers reported in August.
Due to high demand, the growth in premiums may continue, according to Khanin.