(MOSCOW) – Motorists across Russia are reporting severe fuel shortages, with drivers enduring hours long queues at petrol stations and some filling up with discoloured fuel of questionable quality.
Footage circulated on social media on 24th August 2026 shows widespread frustration among Russian drivers, many of whom say they have spent entire days searching for petrol without success.
In Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblast, a driver filmed himself filling his vehicle with 95 octane petrol that appeared red in colour. The fuel was purchased from a Lukoil station. “What a red colour. Ninety five. Lukoil. Fantastic petrol,” the driver said with evident sarcasm.
Another motorist in Stavropol showed black coloured fuel that had been siphoned from his vehicle after filling up at a Gazprom station. He said he had parked his car in a garage and stopped using it after seeing the colour of the petrol. “What kind of beauty is this? Black. Well, this is ninety five. Think for yourself how to pour such fuel into a car,” he said.
The shortages have hit taxi drivers particularly hard. One driver said he loses up to thirty per cent of his earnings because of time spent queuing. “I used to earn 150, now I earn 100 a month. You waste time standing as well,” he said.
Drivers in the Moscow region reported that only 92 octane petrol and diesel remained available in Mytishchi. Others said they had driven along the M4 motorway and the Kyiv highway searching for fuel without success.
“We have been searching for petrol all day. We have driven everywhere, there is no petrol anywhere,” one driver said. “We went outside the city limits. Nazareva, Betonka, the Kyiv highway. No, nowhere. There is nothing. Not any.”
At one station, a queue of vehicles stretched for hundreds of metres before staff announced that fuel had run out. “I stood in this queue for four hours, maybe more. I arrived here at 5:30,” one driver said.
Some drivers criticised petrol station staff for limiting purchases to 20 litres per vehicle, which they said was creating artificial shortages. “Why release only 20 litres? Allow a full tank to be filled. What is the problem? I do not understand this policy,” one motorist said.
Others noted that fuel prices were expected to rise further. “I think we probably do not have enough money, so we need petrol to become more expensive,” one driver said when asked about the cause of the crisis.
The video was released by the Ukrainian news channel Podrobnosti, which compiled footage from Russian social media sources.
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