Igor Yurgens: “Citizens insure themselves against drones in Moscow, not in border regions”

Elena Petrova, Tatyana Sviridova

Russian air defense intercepted 48 Ukrainian drones over Russian cities on the night of May 29, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed. The Belgorod Region “ got it ” the most. 30 UAVs were destroyed there. Three drones flew to Moscow and the Moscow Region, said the capital’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

In the southwest of Moscow, debris from an aircraft hit the Mirax Park residential complex. The SHOT Telegram channel is publishing videos and photos of the damage. Residents of one of the apartments were saved by a thick curtain. The facade of a building on Vernadsky Avenue was damaged, but fortunately, the victims escaped with scratches.

Attacks by Ukrainian UAVs on Russian cities are growing, and along with this, insurance company payments from military actions are also increasing. If 100 claims for damages totaling 10 billion rubles were filed for the entire last year, then since the beginning of 2025 alone , Sogaz has accepted for consideration applications from companies for the risk of “terrorism and sabotage” for a total of 8 billion rubles, RBK reports . Insurers do not say how many citizens suffered damage from drones.

The situation has also worsened in other insurance companies this year. At Alfa Insurance, the number of claims has already exceeded last year's level by 2.5 times , and the amount of damage has increased tenfold .

Last year, RESO-Garantiya paid compensation to citizens for the first time. A total of 49 victims contacted them. There had been no such requests since the beginning of the SVO.

Insurance companies are reluctant to pay compensation for drone attacks, which they classify as terrorism risks. Since 2022, they have referred to the Civil Code and have generally not paid for damages from military actions.

With the Supreme Court's decision in January 2025 on the case of the company "Lafid" from the Belgorod region, the situation changed. In 2023, the buildings of the Belgorod company were damaged by a Ukrainian missile strike. The court found the Shebekino residents right and ordered "RSHB-Insurance" to pay. The company refused to compensate for the damage, but now not only it, but also others will pay for the destruction.

However, not all citizens and businesses will be able to receive compensation. Why insurers do not pay for damages even if there is a property insurance contract, where does the money for these payments come from, and why do residents of border regions not even apply for compensation? Novye Izvestia asked former Chairman of the All-Russian Union of Insurers, Professor of the National Research University Higher School of Economics Igor Yurgens .

— Why don’t insurers always pay for damage from terrorism, in particular from attacks by Ukrainian UAVs, even though the victims have an insurance contract?

— The insurer includes these risks in the tariff. When you sign a contract, there is a corresponding clause that if this or that happens, you pay more and then receive compensation. And then, if this is an old contract and a drone gets in, and it was not part of this contract, then if this is a military story, it is not covered by insurance, the insurer refuses. If this is a borderline story or it is politically advantageous to pay, no matter what, then the insurer does it. He does not receive any compensation from the state.

— Do citizens insure themselves against drone strikes? Or only businesses?

— I don’t know such statistics. People who have country houses, because that’s what we’re talking about, they recently just contact their insurance company with a request to calculate a little more for the dacha in such a case. They send him a calculation of what the premium will be, and he gets insured. Yes, this happens quite often now.

— And in the border regions?

— There are no statistics there now. People there are not rich enough to do this. The penetration of home insurance or personal health insurance is much lower there. We are talking about Moscow now, maybe St. Petersburg.

— Do you expect prices to rise?

- It depends a lot, everything is individual. Each contract is assessed differently. I can't give any figures, and there are no averages.

— How can insurers compensate for losses from such payments?

— All losses are compensated by reserves. Reserves are created in accordance with the Central Bank's instructions for all types of insurance.

— Do you expect the number of insurance policies to increase given the increasing frequency of drone attacks?

- It will depend on how the SVO goes. Naturally, if there is an escalation, then the tariff and the number of applicants will increase.