{"id":1331,"date":"2026-07-01T04:37:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T04:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=1331"},"modified":"2026-07-01T04:37:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T04:37:45","slug":"ukrainian-drone-attacks-on-oil-refineries-plunge-russia-into-a-summer-fuel-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=1331","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries plunge Russia into a summer fuel crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The lines are growing at Russian gas stations — and so is the frustration and uncertainty as several months of Ukrainian attacks have set oil refineries ablaze<\/span> and choked supplies for motorists across the vast country.<\/p>\n

Read more A US missile killed Iranian schoolchildren four months ago. We still don\u2019t know the full story<\/a><\/p>\n

Fuel rationing has been introduced in many regions, with hourslong queues of cars snaking beside roads. Social media videos show drivers aghast at the lines or swearing at empty gas pumps and rising prices. The mayor of the Siberian city of Irkutsk even ordered portable toilets brought in to accommodate those in line.<\/p>\n

The fuel crisis \u2014 unprecedented for a nation that is one of the world\u2019s biggest energy producers \u2014 has brought Moscow\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine home to ordinary Russians like few other events in the war, now in its fifth year.<\/span><\/p>\n

It drew a rare admission<\/span> from President Vladimir Putin<\/span>, who acknowledged that \u201cproblems persist for both motorists and businesses,\u201d and \u201cthere are still queues at petrol stations, and finding the right grade of petrol isn\u2019t always easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Putin insisted the shortages are \u201cnot critical\u201d and \u201ctemporary.\u201d <\/p>\n

But that appeared to do little to reassure at least one motorist in Moscow, the wealthy capital typically better-insulated from economic shocks than the rest of the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the situation is not very good,\u201d the motorist waiting in line told The Associated Press on Monday, the day after Putin\u2019s televised remarks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey say one thing on television, and in reality it\u2019s another. … People are queueing everywhere,\u201d he added, declining to identify himself out of concern for his safety.<\/p>\n

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Ukraine hits energy targets multiple times<\/h2>\n

An AP count shows over 50 reported attacks by Ukraine on oil refineries, depots, terminals and other oil infrastructure in Russia and the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula<\/span> since late March. Often, the same facility is hit more than once -\u2013 such as the refinery in the Black Sea town of Tuapse, which was struck four times in just over two weeks.<\/p>\n

As a result, the amount of crude oil Russia processed into fuel in June was down 25% from a year ago, to 3.95 million barrels per day \u2014 the lowest level in over two decades, said Gary Peach, oil markets analyst at Energy Intelligence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe outages are extraordinary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gasoline production has fallen 17% to 850,000 barrels a day, from 1.03 million a day a year ago \u2014 far short of what\u2019s needed for the domestic market. Russia exports relatively little gasoline.<\/p>\n

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About a third of Russia\u2019s oil refining capacity is offline, said Chris Weafer, CEO of Macro-Advisory Ltd. Consultancy, noting that because refineries don\u2019t publicly confirm the extent of the damage, his estimate comes from anecdotal evidence and oil industry sources.<\/p>\n

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