(SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA) – Saint Petersburg, the hometown of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, is now among the Russian cities suffering the most severe gasoline shortages, with more than 60 percent of filling stations reporting deficits as queues stretch for kilometres. According to Russian domestic statistics, fewer than 40 percent of petrol stations in the city have sufficient fuel supplies, while the remaining 60 percent lack adequate stocks. The fuel crisis, described as a direct consequence of Russia’s failed special military operation, has seen motorists endure days-long queues in a country once cynically dubbed a gas station masquerading as a nation.
The shortages follow a series of successful Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, including a major refinery near Kirishi, a city in Leningrad Oblast close to Saint Petersburg, which has been non-operational since the end of August. The resulting crisis has exposed the vulnerability of Russia’s energy infrastructure and brought the realities of war home to residents of the country’s second-largest city. Ukrainian drones have systematically targeted Russian oil refineries, neutralising refining capacity and disrupting fuel supplies across the federation.
In response to mounting public discontent ahead of September elections, the Kremlin has adopted a tactical approach of rotating fuel supplies between major cities, briefly alleviating shortages in one location before moving to another. This measure, described as a classic Russian approach, does not address the underlying problem. Russian oil refining capacities have been seriously damaged, depriving the federal budget of crucial revenues. The country has not only halted gasoline exports but has begun importing fuel from nations such as Morocco, a development that would have seemed unimaginable in 2022.
Reports indicate that Russian authorities have closed some oil wells because refining and storage capacities are no longer available. Industry experts note that closed wells are typically abandoned permanently, as production cannot be frozen and later resumed after a year or two. The decision to shutter wells represents a long-term abandonment of operations in affected areas, a choice that Putin’s businessmen are now compelled to make. The crisis is expected to worsen as authorities continue to project an image of normalcy while citizens discuss the true situation in the lengthy fuel queues. Police have reportedly been deployed to prevent discussions among waiting motorists, who are unlikely to be praising the Russian dictator.
Residents of Saint Petersburg, once a prosperous and successful city, now contend with drone visits, explosions, and fires. Putin cancelled the Navy parade, a traditional symbol of the city, in 2025 and 2026, not from a position of strength. The local authorities are preparing to convert nine metro stations into bomb shelters, a stark indication of the war’s encroachment on Russian territory. The contrast between the promised “cave-in in three days” of 2022 and the current reality of bomb shelter preparations underscores the failure of Putin’s military ambitions.
The Russian dictator had promised a safer Russia when he launched the special military operation in 2022. At that time, Russians enjoyed stable gasoline supplies, a healthy federal budget, and faced no drone attacks on oil refineries or ballistic missiles threatening their territory. Today, the situation has reversed, with evil returning to its source. As the world marks the anniversary of the 11th September 2001 attacks, the evil witnessed in Ukraine bears a similar character. The recipe to combat such evil remains the destruction of tyranny and the protection of freedom and human life.
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