MOSCOW, Sept 10 (Reuters) – Yuri decided to stick shatter-resistant film onto the windows of his Moscow home in August after a drone blast blew shards of glass into his friend’s apartment, causing minor injuries to those inside.
“These are unsettled times for us right now and I decided to protect my family,” he said, after watching workmen glue the transparent protective sheets to the window panes of his new high-rise apartment.
The Russian authorities insist they are winning the war in Ukraine. But nearly five years into the conflict, many Russians appear increasingly concerned about its impact on everyday life, as Ukrainian drone attacks bring the war closer to home.
As Russia prepares for its first parliamentary election since the launch of its full-scale war in February 2022, those concerns are becoming harder to ignore.
Exactly how public unease might affect the September 18-20 vote is unclear, although in a tightly managed political system the ruling United Russia party, backed by President Vladimir Putin, is set to retain its dominance in parliament.
But the Kremlin will be watching turnout and election results closely as a gauge of public anxiety and war fatigue as Putin presses ahead with his military objectives.
THE WAR IS ESCALATING
Over the summer, Ukraine regularly launched hundreds of drones deep inside Russian territory to strike oil refineries, logistical warehouses and military facilities in the hope of forcing Moscow to back down and negotiate peace.
Instead, Russia has escalated air attacks of its own on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, raising concerns on both sides that the conflict is entering a more dangerous phase.
Weekly surveys by a Russian state pollster show anxiety levels are high. Some men have left the country temporarily amid fears that authorities could launch another mobilisation drive after the election, despite repeated Kremlin denials.
Demand for protection against the effects of the war has risen sharply. Home insurance policies covering drone strikes are becoming more popular, while premiums have jumped.
Russian firm Solartek, which produces sticky sheets designed to stop shards flying from a window in a blast, has seen demand rise 50% so far this year, said manager Pavel Levit.
Standing in his St Petersburg workshop, Levit said customers ranged from private homeowners to companies and state institutions.
“Right now it has become so popular that there is even a shortage of protective film on the Russian market,” he said.
Both Russia and Ukraine deny deliberately targeting civilians. But apartment buildings, shops and transport infrastructure are frequently damaged by drones and missiles that are intercepted by air-defence systems.
Thousands of civilians have been killed in the war so far, the vast majority of them Ukrainian, although deaths in Russia have risen sharply this year too.
MOBILISATION FEARS
In response to Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign, Putin has accused Kyiv of trying to scare Russians and disrupt this month’s parliamentary election.
He said the campaign was doomed to fail, but polling by the state-run Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) suggests a summer of drone alerts and fuel shortages caused by Ukrainian strikes is weighing on national morale.
Since late April, more than half of respondents have described the mood among people they know as “anxious” in all but one weekly FOM survey.
The pollster’s anxiety indicator has remained at its highest sustained level since a military mobilisation drive in late 2022, which prompted hundreds of thousands of fighting-age men to flee the country.
Speculation has persisted this year that authorities could announce another call-up after the election to replenish battlefield losses, despite repeated assurances from Putin and other officials that Russia has sufficient manpower.
Some are taking no chances.
Ivan, 26, an engineer at a Moscow truck repair workshop, and construction manager Roman, 34, told Reuters they had left the country with their families because they feared another call-up. Both gave only their first names to protect their identities.
INSURANCE PREMIUMS SPIKE
There are no official figures showing how many people may have left Russia because of renewed mobilisation concerns. Other indicators, however, point to growing demand for protection against the risks posed by the war.
Requests for coverage linked to Ukrainian strikes have surged in the past year, said Oleg Khanin, head of insurance brokerage Soyuz, which offers drone strike packages.
“You could say there used to be almost no demand at all,” said Khanin in his Moscow office.
“Now the opposite is happening: we sit in our office, and clients from all over Russia are calling all of our phones and writing to all of our email addresses.”
Premiums for household property coverage rose 18% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, according to central bank data. One of the key drivers of this was higher demand due to more frequent drone attacks, the All-Russian Insurance Association said in August.
Khanin said premiums could rise further if demand continues to increase.
“It may become impossible to add this insurance at all.”
(Reporting by Reuters, Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Ros Russell)
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