AP: Public Sentiment In Russia Has Changed
- 3.09.2026, 10:50
The war has returned “home,” and it has become harder to ignore it.
The war that President Vladimir Putin launched against Ukraine 4.5 years ago returned to Russia this summer, making it harder to ignore, according to the Associated Press. Daily swarms of drones shut down Russian airports, attacked oil refineries, and set fire to Wildberries and Ozon warehouses.
According to data from the Russian Ministry of Defense compiled by the Associated Press, more than 43,300 Ukrainian drones were intercepted over Russia and the temporarily occupied Crimea in June, July, and August. During the same period last summer, approximately 7,700 drones were intercepted.
“We were living our normal lives, and then suddenly this happened,” says Moscow retiree Margarita Terekhova.
The mood in Russia has changed
The first major attack this summer took place on June 3, when an oil terminal near St. Petersburg was attacked just as the country’s main economic forum was getting underway. Since then, Ukraine has attacked oil refineries, as well as Wildberries and Ozon warehouses—from Moscow to Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains and Omsk in Siberia.
This intense campaign—with its expanding geographic reach and increasing number of drones—has shocked Russians, says Denis Volkov, director of the Levada Center polling firm.
Chris Weifer, CEO of the Moscow-based consulting firm Macro-Advisory Ltd., said that awareness of the war has increased, while complacency about it has decreased.
“People are more outraged, they’re talking more,” he said.
Rumors of a Possible Mobilization and the Elections
There is also a sense of unease caused by constant rumors of an impending mobilization. This has prompted some Russians to leave the country. A 23-year-old woman from Moscow told the AP that she left last month with her husband, fearing he might be drafted into the army. She believes that many feel exhausted by the war, which could now affect “the life of anyone in any corner of the country.”
Volkov and Weifer said that this increased awareness and declining morale are not leading to anti-war demonstrations, civil unrest, or even enough protest votes to influence the election results.
But factors such as voter turnout and “pre-election debates” are still important to the authorities, Weifer said, even with an almost certain outcome.
Tatyana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Eurasia Center stated that the disqualification of the liberal “Yabloko” party from the election showed that the authorities do not want the election campaign to turn into a debate “for and against peace.”
At the same time, the vote is intended to signal that Putin and the Kremlin have everything under control, and that people are ready to do “whatever the authorities ask of them.”