Title: Russians Endure War Amid Economic Strain And Drone Strikes
Content: I always get the same question when I return from reporting in Russia: When will Russians finally be fed up with the war? They might seem to have good reason now. The war, for years mostly background noise among many Russians, feels more present. The economy is limping. Drivers have to wait in line for gas. Warehouses and data centers are going up in flames. Even Moscow at times comes under heavy attack, as it did on Thursday, when Ukraine launched 630 drones into the region. One recent morning, I set out to ask Russians what they thought about all this. I went to Sofino, a town about an hour from Moscow, where Ukrainian drones a few days before had struck an industrial area, igniting a fire, and a residential complex, killing two people. On the way, I pulled over at a Rosneft gas station where waiting cars snaked well past the exit lane. It had no diesel, but gasoline was available for about $3.25 a gallon — a steep price in Russia. A young man named Danya told me he had waited 30 minutes for gas. He shrugged it off, repeating a refrain I hear all the time from Russians. "Everything is fine," said Danya, who, like others I spoke with, asked that his last name not be used to avoid trouble with the authorities. He added that fuel shortages were overblown. The war, he insisted, "doesn't affect my life at all." Russians shrug for several reasons. They are silenced by the fear and conformity bred by a repressive government. They feel they have as much influence over their country's politics as they do the weather. They are used to deprivation from centuries of political and economic crises. They keep their focus, as a coping mechanism, on what hasn't changed. And they are flooded with anti-Ukraine propaganda from the state. There is also a more fundamental explanation. Ukraine's strategy, as it holds Russia to a near deadlock on the front lines, is to make Russians feel the war and demand an end. That includes the strikes on oil refineries that President Trump has pressured Ukraine to stop in recent days as he has openly favored President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Although the Ukrainian campaign has significantly cut Russian oil production, causing clear economic damage, it has not been enough yet to drastically change life in Russia. Kyiv lacks the ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones that Russia fires at Ukrainian cities every day. And Ukraine's strikes, focused mostly on economic and military targets, do not instill the same fear as Russia's systematic assaults on Ukrainian civilian targets. Ukraine's attacks have politicized some Russians who before now had tried to ignore the war. People have rallied around the flag. In Sofino, outside an apartment building with a gaping hole in the third and fourth floors after the Ukrainian strike, I asked three warehouse workers if they felt angry at the Russian state for starting the war and letting it drag on for nearly five years. "Quite the opposite, the attacks make people hate them even more, because their homes have been damaged," one young man said, referring to Ukrainians and their Western backers. He asked that his name be withheld. Inside the building, a woman named Lusya was dragging a trash bag down the rubble-strewn stairs. She said it was surreal watching television that evening because there was no mention of the attack that had suddenly rendered her homeless. Still, she said she trusted Russia's leaders. "I support my president, even more so after all this, because you realize you just have to support the man and consolidate around him," she said. "I believe we are very lucky to have Putin," she added. Enduring adversity is a source of national pride for Russians. Successive generations have heard tales of the sacrifices of World War II. Waiting in line for basic goods was common during the Soviet era. The war in Ukraine, for many, is just another hardship to bear. "People get used to a 'new normal' again and again," said Elena Stein.
FAQ Q: Why do many Russians remain supportive of the war despite hardships?
FAQ A: Many Russians support the war due to fear of the repressive government, a sense of powerlessness over politics, historical habituation to deprivation, and state propaganda. Some feel a heightened sense of nationalism and pride in enduring hardship, viewing it as a continuation of historical sacrifices.
Источник: New York Times Top Stories · Сводку подготовил HeadlinesBriefing