A sustained Ukrainian campaign targeting oil refineries deep inside Russia has triggered a nationwide fuel shortage, leaving drivers queuing for hours, sparking altercations at petrol stations and forcing authorities to impose strict rationing limits. The scale of the disruption, visible from Moscow to St Petersburg and stretching into remote regions, marks one of the most visible economic impacts of the war on Russian daily life.
Ukraine has struck refinery infrastructure across a wide swathe of Russian territory, with attacks reaching facilities far beyond the Ural Mountains — the traditional boundary between European and Asian Russia. The consequences have divided Russian petrol stations into a simple binary: those that still have fuel and those that do not. In many locations, drivers face limits of 20 to 30 litres per fill-up, and jerry cans are prohibited — measures clearly designed to prevent hoarding. At a Rosneft station in St Petersburg, a cashier warned a reporter that even the remaining supply of standard 92-octane petrol might run out entirely before the day was over. Several Lukoil stations on the city's Vasilyevsky Island have closed altogether.
Social media footage showing shouting matches and physical confrontations at forecourts has spread widely inside Russia. In more remote regions, queues stretching for kilometres have formed. Even in St Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, orderly lines of two to three dozen vehicles have become a common sight. Drivers searching for premium grades — until recently the default choice for many car owners — are increasingly turning away empty-handed and moving on to try their luck elsewhere.
The crisis is also raising concerns about fuel quality. The Russian government has announced a temporary relaxation of emissions standards, planning to re-authorise petrol meeting only the Euro 2 standard — a grade banned in Russia since 2013 — until mid-2027. One St Petersburg resident told reporters she could no longer be certain the fuel she pumped matched what was advertised on the pump, but said she had no intention of giving up her car regardless.
The shortage is already reshaping everyday behaviour. Residents dependent on informal ride-sharing in the Leningrad region — the administrative area surrounding St Petersburg — report significantly longer waits for lifts. The disruption underscores how Ukraine's long-range strike strategy, increasingly aimed at energy infrastructure rather than frontline positions, is translating into tangible hardship for ordinary Russians far from the battlefield.