Less than a third of Russian gas stations now have fuel
Fuel availability at Russian gas stations has plunged following renewed Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries, according to app data cited by pro-government media. Russia's energy minister acknowledges lines forming but insists fuel remains available.
Russia's fuel shortage is deepening: as of August 16, only 28% of gas stations tracked by the 'GdeBenz' app had gasoline or diesel in stock, according to an analysis by the pro-government newspaper Izvestia. A week earlier, that figure stood at 41%.
The decline was recorded across numerous regions, including Volgograd, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Voronezh, Samara, Penza, Saratov, Lipetsk, Rostov, and Tatarstan. The independent outlet Agentstvo reported that authorities in at least eight regions acknowledged fuel shortages and long lines at filling stations over the past week, while fuel problems were also reported by media and social media users in 13 regions.
On August 17, Izvestia correspondents surveyed 21 gas stations in Moscow and the surrounding region, finding 92-octane gasoline at only seven, 95-octane at six, and 98-octane at just five. The outlet noted that even diesel was not universally available. A reporter for the business outlet RBC checked ten Moscow gas stations and found only two actually operating.
Minister pledges a fix
Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev said on August 18 that gasoline and diesel remain available at Russian filling stations, though he admitted that queues are forming. He said the government is actively working to resolve the issue.
Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil facilities are cited as a key driver of the crisis. An initial wave began in late May, when nationwide fuel sale restrictions forced residents into hours-long lines; those restrictions started easing by mid-July. A fresh wave of the crisis emerged in August, coinciding with renewed Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries.
