(MOSCOW) – Russian newspapers are reporting a resurgence of fuel shortages across the country, with some regions reintroducing rationing systems last seen during the Soviet era. The development marks a significant escalation in the logistical problems facing the Russian economy.
According to a report in the newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta, “the second wave of the fuel crisis is building.” The publication notes that Russian regions are reintroducing an odd-even system for petrol sales, alongside limits on fuel purchases. Under this system, vehicles with number plates ending in odd numbers may only refuel on odd-numbered days, while even-numbered plates are restricted to even-numbered days.
The Russian government has acknowledged that “in a number of Russian regions, there is still a tense situation with the fuel supply to petrol stations.” This includes Moscow, where long queues have been observed at petrol stations for at least four consecutive days.
The government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports that while petrol supply is affected, diesel remains unaffected. The publication attributes the shortages directly to “the shutting down of oil refineries due to damage by drones,” which has had “a critical impact specifically on the supply of petrol.”
However, the same government publication claims the issue is not a nationwide fuel crisis but rather “local shortages in concrete regions.”
The newspaper Izvestia leads with the fuel shortage as its top story, publishing figures showing that as of 16th August, only 28.1 percent of petrol stations across Russia had fuel available. This represents a sharp decline from 41 percent just one week earlier.
The economic picture is further clouded by reports in Vedomosti, which warns of “deepening stagnation expected in Russian industry in the second half of the year.”
Moskovsky Komsomolets reports that food prices continue to climb, with beef rising by 9.8 percent and chicken by 10.1 percent since the start of the year. The same publication notes a boom in second-hand goods, as new items have become too expensive for many Russians.
Meanwhile, the government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta offered a more optimistic perspective, highlighting that the average salary can now purchase almost 25 percent more fish fillet than three years ago, that the nut market is steadily growing, and that luxury car sales are increasing.
On the diplomatic front, Russian media are expressing growing disappointment one year after the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska. Moskovsky Komsomolets ran the headline “The Stale Spirit of Anchorage,” suggesting the optimistic rhetoric following that meeting has evaporated.
The article notes that Russian officials had spoken “lyrically about some kind of spirit of Anchorage,” as if the two leaders had reached an understanding that Kyiv would be pressured into accepting a peace deal favourable to Moscow. “Not much of that spirit is in evidence here,” the writer observes.
The pro-Kremlin newspaper openly acknowledges that the main beneficiary of the Russia-Ukraine war is now “Trump’s America,” because among other things, “the war is weakening Russia.” The publication notably uses the word “war” without qualification.
The writer concludes that “the biggest mystery of Anchorage is not why its spirit evaporated but how it could appear in the first place.”
In Kommersant, a foreign policy writer attempts to find positives, arguing that the fallout from Alaska demonstrated “America is not all powerful.” The writer suggests that while this worked against Moscow in this instance, “the very fact of Washington’s limited capabilities should be considered a positive.”
The report was compiled by BBC Russia correspondent Steve Rosenberg.
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