Ukrainian drone strikes on oil depots and key refineries have triggered a severe petrol crisis in Russia, with panicked motorists facing lengthy fuel queues in Moscow. The shortages have undermined Vladimir Putin's narrative that the war is not affecting daily life at home.
BBC journalist Steve Rosenberg reported seeing around 80 vehicles waiting in a single line at a petrol station in south-east Moscow. One frustrated local told him: "Last night I went to get petrol at 11pm. By midnight I'd reached the front of the queue. Then they shut the petrol station until 2am."
Empty stations and official explanations
Another motorist said: "I drove into Moscow yesterday from the province. It was empty petrol stations all the way. Everyone says there is a difficult situation in the country."
Russian officials have blamed the queues on "unscheduled repairs at oil refineries" following Ukraine's targeted strikes. However, internal reports paint a more serious picture for the Kremlin.
Independent media highlights infrastructure vulnerability
Privately-owned Russian analytical newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta ran a report titled "Is there a way out of the petrol crisis if infrastructure isn't protected?" The paper said it is "virtually impossible to pull the country out of a fuel crisis while unprotected infrastructure remains under constant attack".
It added: "If an oil refinery suffers serious damage, repairs can take several months. Russian oil refining is therefore operating in a constant cycle of recovery from continuing Ukrainian attacks." The paper noted that officials are beginning to consider preventing damage, not just repairing refineries, and that it is "becoming increasingly difficult for government officials to explain why even basic passive protection has not been installed at key infrastructure sites."
Putin acknowledges harm from strikes
The chaos has forced Putin to admit that Ukraine's persistent strikes are causing damage. While claiming official data shows "modest overall" but "positive" economic performance, he said: "Clearly, the pace of economic activity is being affected by a range of factors, including external pressure as well as terrorist attacks on industrial and infrastructure facilities."
He added: "Naturally, such attacks have not - and could not - result in critical consequences. Yet, they do cause us harm - this is obvious, and we fully recognise and understand it."
Despite the economic damage and growing public anger, the Kremlin has refused to change course on what it still calls the "special military operation" in Ukraine. Andrei Kolesnikov, a columnist for independent outlet Novaya Gazeta, highlighted the "disconnect between people's feelings and the description of reality by Vladimir Putin, the description of his personal reality in his head."
