Record number of queries in Russia about end of 'special military operation'
In the week of June 22–28, Russian users made over 137,000 searches on Yandex asking when the 'special military operation' will end, the highest since the war began.
According to the independent Russian outlet Meduza, citing data from Yandex Wordstat and the Telegram channel 'Mozhem Obiasnit', the number of search queries 'when will the SVO end' in Yandex reached a record high. From June 22 to 28, users entered over 137,000 such queries, the highest since February 24, 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The number of these queries has been growing for a second consecutive week. The previous peak was recorded in early June: from June 1 to 7, Russians searched for an answer more than 109,000 times. Nearly 13% of all queries over the past month came from Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Meduza noted that the previous spike in interest coincided with Ukrainian drone strikes on St. Petersburg during the opening and closing of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. On June 6, the governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Beglov, urged residents not to leave their homes during a massive drone attack.
On June 21 and the night of June 22, Ukrainian defense forces struck several Russian military facilities, including a space communications center in Moscow. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that the strike on the Dubna space communications center damaged a satellite communications complex and an adjacent technical building.
On June 25, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he had approved a 40-day SBU influence operation against Russia aimed at pushing for an end to the war.
