Putin humiliated as Russia forced to take drastic action amid fuel shortage

The Kremlin has grudgingly announced that the Russian government is in negotiations with other countries to purchase gasoline. It comes as the warring nation tries to stabilise its domestic market amid a series of Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries and energy infrastructure.

“Discussions are actively being held,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a daily briefing, but declined to name the specific countries involved in the talks. “If agreements can be reached at acceptable price points, then [imports] will move forward,” he added. It comes after Vladimir Putin himself was forced to acknowledge that his country is facing a fuel shortage following recent Ukrainian strikes. He estimated Russia’s total gasoline reserves at 1.7 million metric tons – a 4% decline from the same period last year.

Last week, industry sources said Russia was discussing importing 50,000 metric tons of AI-92-grade gasoline from Kazakhstan, according to Reuters. At the time, Kazakhstan’s energy minister said that Moscow had not formally approached Astana for those supplies.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, meanwhile, said gasoline imports represent one of the “key measures” needed to stabilise the domestic fuel market. His remarks followed a move by lawmakers in the lower house, the State Duma, to change tax codes to create government subsidies to fund gasoline imports from abroad.

Russia, which is the world’s second-largest exporter of crude oil and third-largest exporter of refined petroleum products, has seen its gasoline production drop by 25% after Ukrainian drone attacks reportedly forced the shutdown of several large refineries.

In response, authorities have introduced fuel rationing measures across the country and in annexed Crimea. The disruptions arrive at a critical time, with both the summer vacation travel season and the agricultural farming season in full swing.

The average price of gasoline in Russia has climbed 9.8% since the start of the year, with a record single-week surge of 3% pushing the national average to 71.20 rubles per litre (£3.14 per gallon) as of June 22.

In recent months, Ukraine has focused its drone campaign on Russian oil refineries in a bid to choke off Moscow’s war funding and military fuel supply. On June 28, in a synchronised overnight operation. Drones sparked major fires at the Slavyansk facility in Krasnodar Krai and targeted the massive 300,000-barrel-per-day facility in Yaroslavl, roughly 700km from the Ukrainian border. Meanwhile, on June 16 and 18, the Moscow Oil Refinery was hit by successive waves of attacks, causing severe damage to its processing units. Industry sources report the refinery is crippled and will remain entirely offline for at least six months.

Overnight, long-range drones struck the crucial Ufa Refinery deep inside Russian territory, as confirmed by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.