Russians Fear Post-Election Mobilization as 20-Minute Gas Lines Signal Wartime Strain
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 16
Russians Fear Post-Election Mobilization as 20-Minute Gas Lines Signal Wartime Strain
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 16
Summary
Friday’s parliamentary election is drawing little public interest, but many Russians are focused on what may follow—especially rumors of a large forced mobilization after the vote.
Runaway war spending has strained the economy while Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries have disrupted fuel supplies, leaving motorists in lines that stretched to 20 minutes at some stations.
Moscow residents interviewed described a split mood: many insist life is normal, yet others say the war is becoming impossible to ignore as shortages and military losses mount.
Five years after the last parliamentary election, held before Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine, the vote is unfolding against a backdrop of deeper public anxiety over the war’s domestic costs.