(MOSCOW, RUSSIA) – A second wave of fuel shortages is gripping Moscow and St Petersburg, with Rosneft imposing a 30 litre cap on all fuel purchases across the country as rationing returns to Russia’s largest cities.
The fuel crisis, which first peaked in early July, appeared to improve temporarily after the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin released strategic reserves. However, availability has now collapsed again, with only 20 percent of petrol stations in Moscow city currently having fuel available for sale, according to tracking data.
In the Moscow oblast, approximately 80 percent of stations had fuel at the end of July, but that figure has fallen sharply. The crisis is affecting the entire country, with long queues reported on highways near Gelendzhik on the Black Sea coastline, where lines stretch for up to 10 kilometres.
One resident of Voronezh described the situation: “To get gas in Voronezh, I had to leave my car in line yesterday at 12:00 noon. Fifth, for God’s sake at the gas station just to get there at 7:00 a.m. today and wait for an hour and a half because we were no longer fifth but 20th just to get gas.”
She added, “There’s a line of 200 cars and in 2 hours the gas will run out. The last ones there definitely won’t get any.”
The crisis has been exacerbated by continued Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure. In the last 48 hours, Ukraine struck two more refineries. The Taneco refinery in Tatarstan, located 1,100 kilometres from Ukraine’s border, was hit for the second time in 10 days. The Lukoil Perm refinery, 1,500 kilometres from Ukraine’s northern border, was also struck, with damage reported to the AV2 primary distillation unit.
Crimea is experiencing severe hardship. A resident of Yalta reported being without electricity for 26 days. “Gasoline simply doesn’t exist,” he said. “Water is also hard to find. Generators don’t run forever. They need to be refuelled. That’s why refrigerators and refrigerated display cases in stores aren’t working. It’s very difficult to find food.”
Ukraine also struck an electrical substation in Taman, threatening the last reliable power supply to the Kerch area. The LPG export terminal in Taman was hit again, marking more than a dozen strikes on the facility.
The logistics situation in occupied territories remains critical. For three months, Ukrainian drones have been systematically destroying Russian fuel tankers and supply trucks on highways near Mariupol, Berdiansk and Donetsk. Conservative estimates suggest up to 1,800 vehicles have been destroyed since May.
The economic impact is spreading to the banking sector. Moscow Credit Bank, one of Russia’s largest lenders, reported overdue loans of 277 billion roubles (£2.5 billion / $3 billion), representing 14.8 percent of its total loan portfolio. This is five times the Russian banking sector average and well into crisis territory.
The Russian dictator has ordered the government to launch a programme to rebuild commercial warehouses damaged by Ukrainian attacks, mostly belonging to Wildberries. Ukraine’s unmanned systems forces have stated the strikes aim to trigger a banking crisis in Russia.
Meanwhile, Russia continues its missile attacks on Ukrainian cities. A massive overnight barrage targeted Kyiv, Odesa and Chernihiv, damaging residential buildings, a children’s hospital, a school and railway infrastructure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that while over 90 percent of drones and cruise missiles are intercepted, ballistic missiles are now hitting their targets due to a critical shortage of Patriot interceptors.
“We need missiles for Patriots, and only our partners can provide them,” Zelenskyy said. “We are not talking about gifts. Ukraine is ready to buy weapons we need.”
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that over 4,000 of Kyiv’s 12,000 buildings have sustained damage from Russian attacks, meaning one in three buildings in the capital has been affected.
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