Two “earthquakes” just struck Russia. On September 18, a fleet of Ukrainian drones flew 300 miles inside Russia and blew sky-high an arsenal of missiles, shells, and mines. The ground shook, and the detonation registered 2.8 on the Richter scale. It could be seen from space, and fires burned over six square kilometers for days. An estimated 30,000 tons of ammo was obliterated, enough to supply Russia’s war machine for months. Then, on September 21, another “earthquake” hit when a fresh poll revealed a dramatic shift in Russian public opinion against Putin’s war. The survey, conducted with independent pollster ExtremeScan, found that 49 percent of Russians support the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and peace talks even if the aims of the war have not been met. This marks an increase of 9 percentage points from the 40 percent who favored such a move in January 2024. "The Ukrainian invasion into the Kursk region was a shocking thing for many and decreased the number of those who want to fight till the goals are reached," Aleksei Miniailo, a Russian opposition politician, told Newsweek.
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