Russia faces renewed fuel shortages as Ukraine resumes attacks on refineries

Russia is one of the world’s largest crude oil exporters. It is now importing gasoline from India. That single fact captures the severity of what Ukraine’s sustained drone campaign has done to Russian refining infrastructure.

A relentless series of strikes on oil refineries and fuel depots has carved an estimated 15% to 40% out of Russia’s domestic refining capacity, depending on the source and timing of the assessment. The result is a fuel crisis that has spread across nearly all of Russia’s 83 regions, with local governments resorting to rationing, extended queues at gas stations, and in some cases, temporary states of emergency.

A campaign measured in hundreds of strikes

Since the 2022 invasion, Ukrainian forces have carried out more than 300 drone strikes on Russian oil facilities. The pace accelerated sharply from spring 2025, turning what had been a persistent nuisance into a strategic chokepoint.

Recent attacks have targeted critical infrastructure in cities like Omsk and Nizhnekamsk, resulting in casualties and further tightening an already strained supply picture.

By early July 2026, fuel supply restrictions had become the norm rather than the exception across the country. Agriculture has been particularly affected, with major grain-producing regions dealing with fuel constraints during critical growing and harvesting periods.

Moscow’s response: imports, lower standards, and acknowledgment

President Vladimir Putin acknowledged in late June 2026 that the attacks were causing a “certain shortage,” a characteristically understated description of a crisis that has forced his government into a series of emergency measures.

The most striking of those measures is the decision to import gasoline by sea from India, with an initial shipment of at least 60,000 metric tons.

The Russian government has also temporarily relaxed fuel quality standards down to Euro-3, a lower-grade specification that allows refineries still operating to push out more volume at the cost of cleaner-burning fuel.

Additional plans include bolstering defenses around refinery complexes and implementing price controls to prevent gouging at the pump.

Why energy markets are paying attention

Russia can still pump and export raw crude. But it increasingly cannot turn that crude into the refined products its own economy needs. India, which has been a major buyer of discounted Russian crude since Western sanctions reshaped energy trade, is now also becoming a supplier of refined fuel back to Russia.

The agricultural dimension adds another wrinkle. Russia is one of the world’s top grain exporters. If fuel shortages constrain planting, harvesting, or transport of grain, the disruption could ripple into global food commodity markets.

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