Putin called it “not critical.” The Russians queuing for hours at petrol stations in July 2026 saw it differently.
Ukraine had launched more than 50 reported attacks on Russian oil refineries and energy sites since March, the Associated Press reported on July 3. Analyst Chris Weafer put the share of Russian refining capacity knocked out at about one-third. Gasoline output fell roughly 17% to 850,000 barrels a day, and rationing spread across regions.
A Moscow plant hit twice
One Moscow refinery was struck twice. The second attack, on June 18, did serious damage, and repairs are expected to run to the end of the year. IBTimes UK listed Moscow’s Kapotnya plant alongside Norsi, Ufa, Syzran and Tuapse as facilities hit repeatedly, and said the Omsk refinery, the country’s largest, was attacked in the first week of July.
The effect reaches far beyond the capital. IBTimes reported shortages in nearly all of Russia’s 83 regions. Many stations cap purchases at 20-30 liters a vehicle and refuse jerry can refills. Irkutsk, Zabaykalsky Krai and Penza declared heightened alert or emergency status. Crimea was hit hardest, with sales of gasoline to private drivers sometimes halted outright.
Prices, imports and inflation
Semafor, on July 2, said diesel had risen more than 40% since spring and that June fuel output fell about 25%, a level not seen in two decades. It cited a Bloomberg survey in which only two of eight farmers had enough fuel to finish harvesting. Searches for “how to siphon fuel” jumped from 697 a month earlier to more than 9,300 by June 21, according to Yandex data cited by iPhones.ru.
Moscow has started buying petrol from India, IBTimes reported, taking tens of thousands of tonnes. The Bank of Russia has named rising fuel prices as an inflation driver.
What Putin said
At a televised government meeting, Putin conceded Russia was in a “difficult period” but described the shortages as temporary. He promised faster repairs and said imports were under consideration. “These attacks on our facilities certainly create problems,” he said, according to IBTimes. He insisted they have “absolutely no effect on the situation” at the front, though Western military analysts say mid-range Ukrainian strikes have hampered Russian logistics and slowed the advance.
He also turned down ceasefire proposals from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Any truce, he said, would require Ukraine to pull out of contested Donetsk territory and give up its NATO aspirations.
The same week, Russia fired an 11-hour overnight barrage at Kyiv that killed at least 30 people, among the deadliest attacks on the capital since the full-scale invasion began.
Sources
- Russia unleashes massive barrage on Ukraine, killing at least 30 people, as Putin shrugs off energy concerns (Associated Press, via PBS NewsHour)
- Russia Hit by Fuel Shortages and Petrol Queues as Ukrainian Drones Cripple Refineries (IBTimes UK, Bernadette B. Tixon)
- Russia Faces Growing Fuel Shortage (Semafor)
