Russian supplier reports 50% jump in demand for drone-blast window protection before election

The war changes household behaviour

A Russian manufacturer of shatter-resistant window film says demand has risen 50% this year as Ukrainian drones reach cities far from the border. Reuters reported the increase on September 10 while documenting residents adding transparent protective layers to apartment windows after nearby blasts sent glass into homes. The film is designed to hold fragments together during an explosion, reducing one secondary source of injury even though it cannot protect a building from a direct strike.

The evidence is specific rather than a national opinion poll: one supplier, Solartek, reported the rise, while insurers were seeing greater interest in policies covering drone damage and higher premiums. Reuters also described private households, businesses and state institutions seeking protection. Together, those indicators show that a security risk once treated as distant is influencing purchases and property decisions in Moscow, St Petersburg and other urban centres.

An election under wartime pressure

The trend is politically salient because Russia is preparing to vote on September 18–20 in its first parliamentary election since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. United Russia, backed by President Vladimir Putin, is expected to retain control in a tightly managed system. The more informative signals may therefore be turnout, regional variations and the extent to which war fatigue affects participation rather than whether power changes hands.

Reuters reported that some men have temporarily left Russia because they fear another mobilisation after the election, despite repeated Kremlin denials that one is planned. That does not establish that a call-up is imminent. It does show how uncertainty can shape behaviour even when officials reject the premise. The European Council separately says repression of civil society and democratic opposition has intensified during the war, limiting the environment in which voters and political organisations can publicly test government claims.

Escalation on both sides

Ukraine has used long-range drones against Russian oil refineries, logistics sites and military facilities, while Russia has intensified missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities. United Nations human-rights monitors documented long-range weapons as the leading cause of Ukrainian civilian casualties in June, underscoring the far larger and continuing human cost inside Ukraine. The new Russian precautions do not independently establish casualty totals or targeting intent. What they establish is a measurable domestic response: blast protection, insurance and mobilisation fears are entering everyday calculations as the parliamentary vote approaches.