There were long lines at gas pumps, turning each fill-up into an ordeal. Flights to vacation destinations were canceled, delayed or rerouted. Online orders were disrupted as e-commerce hubs were set ablaze by buzzing drones.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a difficult summer for Russians \u2014 a season of almost daily turmoil, frustration and anxiety.<\/p>\n
The war that President Vladimir Putin unleashed on Ukraine 4\u00bd years ago has come home and is harder to ignore. Nightly swarms of drones closed Russian airports, struck oil refineries or set ablaze the warehouses of retail giants Wildberries and Ozon.<\/p>\n
Over 43,300 Ukrainian drones were intercepted over Russia and illegally annexed Crimea in June, July and August, according to Defense Ministry data compiled by the Associated Press, although some clearly hit their targets. In the same period last summer, about 7,700 were intercepted, the ministry said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe were living a normal life, and then suddenly it\u2019s like this,\u201d retiree Margarita Terekhova said about waiting in line to refuel her car in Moscow, part of the nationwide gas crisis from refinery attacks that persisted into August.<\/p>\n
As the calendar turns toward autumn, increased awareness of the war and its consequences comes at a challenging time for the Kremlin. A parliamentary election takes place Sept. 18-20 \u2014 the first since the full-scale invasion.<\/p>\n
While there\u2019s little doubt about the outcome of the tightly controlled balloting that features few opposition candidates, analysts say it still holds potential for political volatility.<\/p>\n
\u201cElections are a time when people should reflect on themselves, the country, where it\u2019s going and what to do about it,\u201d said Nikolay Petrov, senior research fellow at the NEST Centre, founded by exiled tycoon and opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky.<\/p>\n
Even in a strictly controlled environment, \u201cthings that are unexpected, inconvenient (and) painful for the authorities\u201d can happen, Petrov said.<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s mood shifts<\/p>\n
The summer\u2019s first major attack came June 3, when an oil terminal outside St. Petersburg was struck just as Putin\u2019s signature economic forum there got underway. Since then, Ukraine hit refineries, along with Wildberries and Ozon warehouses \u2014 from Moscow to Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains, to Omsk in Siberia.<\/p>\n
That intensified campaign \u2014 with its expanded geography and a growing number of drones \u2014 shocked Russians, says Denis Volkov, director of the country\u2019s top independent pollster, the Levada Center.<\/p>\n
Ukraine has not disclosed how many drones it launches, but President Volodymyr Zelensky has talked about expanding the strikes, which he calls \u201clong-range sanctions.\u201d Officials in Kyiv say they will continue trying to pressure Russia into ending the war, even as Moscow intensifies its bombardment of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The attacks have remained the most noteworthy topic for two months this summer, Volkov told AP.<\/p>\n
Social media documented gas station queues or travelers stranded by canceled flights. Tearful entrepreneurs told followers their inventory was destroyed at the stricken warehouses.<\/p>\n
Images of massive fires at oil refineries and warehouses showed up online despite restrictions on publication of content detailing the attacks.<\/p>\n
Asked if Russians should get used to fuel shortages, Putin said Thursday in Vladivostok that \u201cwe must be prepared for anything, and our preparedness for everything will signal to those who want to harm us that it\u2019s better not to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the shock over this summer\u2019s events has since eased, Volkov said, there is a longer-term downward trend that sociologists have tracked since last year: a worsening assessment of Russia\u2019s economic situation and declining approvals of top politicians.<\/p>\n
Putin\u2019s traditionally high approval rating has fallen somewhat this year. Data from the Levada Center showed it at 76% in August, down from 87% in September 2025.<\/p>\n
Chris Weafer, CEO of the Macro-Advisory Ltd. consultancy that works in Moscow, said there\u2019s more awareness of the war and less complacency about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are grumbling more, they\u2019re talking more,\u201d he said, with a striking level of pessimism, especially in the business community, about the prospects for its end.<\/p>\n
Rumors of a possible mobilization<\/p>\n
There also appears to be nervousness fueled by persistent rumors of an impending troop mobilization \u2014 like the widely unpopular one in September 2022 that drafted 300,000 men.<\/p>\n
Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials maintain Russia is planning another mobilization after the State Duma election. Putin rejected the claims, saying they were \u201can information attack by the enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, the prospect has prompted some Russians to leave the country. One 23-year-old Muscovite told AP she left last month with her husband, worried he might be drafted.<\/p>\n
The young woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of concerns for her safety, also mentioned fear of Ukrainian attacks. She believes many feel exhaustion from the war, which now can affect \u201cthe life of any person in any corner of the country,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Volkov said worries over a new mobilization have long lurked in the background but flared up slightly last year after U.S.-led peace efforts stalled with no end to the war in sight. <\/p>\n
People \u201cdon\u2019t want (the conflict) to expand and more people to be dragged into it against their will, and this breeds certain concern, anxiety,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Authorities don\u2019t want a war debate<\/p>\n
Volkov and Weafer said this increased awareness and the dampened mood aren\u2019t translating into anti-war demonstrations, public unrest or even enough protest votes to affect the balloting.<\/p>\n
But things like turnout and \u201cdebate ahead of the election\u201d still matter to authorities, Weafer said, even with an all-but-certain outcome.<\/p>\n
Petrov pointed to the Yabloko party, the longtime voice of the liberal opposition that campaigns for an end to the war. It initially was allowed onto the ballot, and its young supporters flooded social media with videos promoting the party.<\/p>\n
But on Aug. 10, the Supreme Court kicked Yabloko off the ballot, leaving it to compete only in single constituency races. Ten days later, the head of its Moscow office, Kirill Goncharov, said the party, with about 4,000 members, got 8,000 new applications.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe context of the summer of 2026 is that there is a demand for peace,\u201d Goncharov said.<\/p>\n
Yabloko\u2019s slogans resonated with young voters, and that \u201cupended the Kremlin\u2019s calculation\u201d of giving people a relatively safe outlet for their discontent, Petrov said. <\/p>\n
Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center said Yabloko\u2019s removal showed that authorities did not want the election to become a debate \u201cfor and against peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Petrov said the Kremlin needs elections \u201cas a demonstration of its great legitimacy.\u201d It doesn\u2019t care so much about the results, since it largely controls all the parties.<\/p>\n
\u201cElections, like in Soviet times, should demonstrate the complete loyalty of all citizens,\u201d he said, adding that the vote should signal that Putin and the Kremlin have everything under control, and that people are ready to do \u201cwhatever authorities ask of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ukraine plans more turmoil for Russia<\/p>\n
Russians interviewed in Moscow this week about how they spent their summer recounted contented moments, but they also described living with the effects of daily drone attacks.<\/p>\n
Natalya Bazhenova from Chita in Siberia told AP she waited two full days in line for gasoline. Visiting the Voronezh region near the Ukrainian border, she got constant texts warning of drones but heard no explosions.<\/p>\n
Ksenia Smirnova said her family canceled a flight to a Black Sea resort and is going by train instead.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Zelensky ominously warned airlines in Russia that the risks could continue.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough the Russian authorities are not properly informing people about this, Russian airspace will effectively be closing \u2014 the war started by Russia is closing its skies,\u201d he said. \u201cFor now, the skies over Russia are for drones \u2014 not for civilian aviation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Litvinova writes for the Associated Press. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There were long lines at gas pumps, turning each fill-up into an ordeal. Flights to vacation destinations were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[858,1017,12820,115,38,12821,12819,603,414,25,510,12818,26,314,112],"class_list":["post-36855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-authority","tag-country","tag-denis-volkov","tag-drone","tag-moscow","tag-nikolay-petrov","tag-parliamentary-election","tag-people","tag-putin","tag-russia","tag-russians","tag-summer","tag-ukraine","tag-war","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}