The expansion of state control, including military enlistment offices gaining access to personal data and tighter financial monitoring, has triggered another wave of discussion on Russian social media. In the new monitoring report, we examine how Russians are responding to these changes and analyze how the contradiction between official statements and new control mechanisms is affecting their level of trust in the authorities.

We also track what Russians are saying about the ongoing fuel crisis, their reactions to attacks on logistics infrastructure, the judicial removal of Yabloko from elections, and the prospect of the war continuing until 2030.

The monitoring covers August 24-30, 2026, and is based on an analysis of regional communities on VKontakte and Telegram.