(MOSCOW) – Russia is facing a large scale petrol shortage with stations closing across Moscow, the Moscow region, Nizhny Novgorod and routes towards Crimea and Anapa. Working stations have drawn multi kilometre queues lasting several hours and in some cases a full day. Drivers report shock at the absence of fuel, the introduction of purchase limits of 40 to 60 litres per customer, and a sharp rise in prices to 140 and 160 roubles a litre (approximately 1.65 to 1.89 US dollars or 1.22 to 1.39 pounds sterling).
Social media videos and local accounts describe the scene in detail. One driver said he had spent two hours in a queue at a station in Taman and left without fuel after supplies ran out within three hours. On the road before the Crimean bridge two Lukoil stations still had petrol but queues lasted four to five hours with no guarantee of success. Another motorist reported driving past five stations with no petrol left and only ten litres remaining in the tank, offering to buy fuel from other drivers. A further account recorded visits to six stations where only three had diesel and the rest had none at all.
In the Krasnodar region 90% of stations on the highway and in Anapa itself were closed. At a Gazprom station visible from a hotel window the queue stretched for three city blocks. Average waiting times reached six to seven hours. Cossacks were on duty at some sites to control the crowds. One car observed in the queue advanced only one block in four hours.
In Moscow and the surrounding region drivers reported visiting around twenty stations. Most showed long queues or closed signs. Rosneft still had supplies in places while Lukoil and Tatneft stations were only partially stocked and many private operators had run dry. Queues continued through the night at 1am, 2am, 3am and 4am. At one Gazpromneft station on the junction of the Old Kashira road and the Greater Betonka a sign limited sales to 60 litres per customer. At another site only 100 octane petrol was available at 160 roubles a litre. A Gazprom station was selling 95 octane at 140 roubles a litre, up from 71 roubles two days earlier.
In Nizhny Novgorod queues had eased at some sites only because fuel itself had disappeared. At one working station about ten cars waited. Odd numbered plates appeared to be prioritised on the 15th of the month and a limit of 40 litres was in force at a Lukoil outlet. A man with an even numbered plate was told he would not be served that day.
Drivers repeatedly described the situation as the start of “hunger games” and asked what would come next if even petrol had become scarce in a modern technological society. Many expressed despair at the inability to refuel and the return of shortages they believed had been left behind.
Footage and accounts circulating on social media and compiled by Ukrainian outlet Podrobnosti document the queues, closed stations and price rises across the affected regions.
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