Motorists in the Siberian town of Ust-Ordynsky faced mounting frustration on Saturday night as a queue at a filling station turned volatile. A black Audi Q7 bypassed dozens of waiting cars, sparking shouts, mobile phone recordings, and a police officer drawing his pistol to calm the crowd. The incident captures the growing anger over Russia’s worsening fuel shortages, which have spread across the country despite it being one of the world’s largest oil producers.
Ukraine’s campaign of long-range drone strikes on Russia’s oil infrastructure has damaged roughly a third of the country’s refining capacity, cutting gasoline production by about 25% year on year. The shortages first emerged in Russian-occupied Crimea in May but have since affected almost every region, with only two reportedly unaffected. This has become one of the most visible disruptions to everyday life since the full-scale invasion, challenging the Kremlin’s efforts to shield the public from the war’s economic consequences.
The Russian government has acknowledged exploring fuel imports from Belarus, Kazakhstan, and India—an extraordinary step for a normally major exporter. It is also considering temporarily relaxing fuel-quality standards to allow production of lower-grade gasoline and diesel. Analysts say the longer-term impact depends on whether Ukraine can sustain its campaign.
In Irkutsk, one of the worst-hit Siberian cities, Anastasiya, an employee at a logistics company, described rationing as reminiscent of Soviet-era queues. She noted that several company lorries had been stranded outside Chita for five days due to lack of fuel. The crisis has also reduced taxi journeys by about 20%, with ride-hailing drivers avoiding longer trips. In southern Russia, Cossack patrols have been deployed to maintain order at Black Sea petrol stations during the peak tourist season.
Political analyst Andrei Kolesnikov said mass fatigue with the war is turning into mass irritation, but added that widespread protests are unlikely in Russia’s tightly controlled political system. “There is certainly shock, but the lack of any real means of influencing the situation – and the risks associated with trying to do so – make protests unlikely,” he said.
