Record numbers of Russians are searching the internet for when the war in Ukraine will end
Searches for “when will the SVO [special military operation] end” on Yandex hit their highest level since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Telegram channel Mozhem obiasnit (“We Can Explain”) reported.
Yandex Wordstat data show users submitted more than 137,000 such queries in the week of June 22–28 — a record since February 24, 2022, Meduza confirmed. Nearly 13% of those queries over the past month came from Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The search volume has climbed for two consecutive weeks. The previous peak came in the first week of summer, when Yandex users submitted the query more than 109,000 times between June 1 and 7.
This week, Ukrainian forces twice struck St. Petersburg — on the opening and closing days of the international economic forum.
In May and June 2026, Ukraine stepped up its attacks on Russia. Massive drone strikes have hit oil facilities and other targets across the country, triggering a fuel crisis in many Russian regions. People have flooded social media with complaints about gasoline shortages and long lines at gas stations.
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