Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign against Russian oil infrastructure is increasingly affecting fuel supplies inside Russia, with reports of gasoline shortages and restrictions spreading to more than 25 regions, including Moscow and St. Petersburg.
According to reporting by The Moscow Times, restrictions on gasoline sales reached Russia’s two largest cities in mid-June as the effects of sustained attacks on refineries continued to ripple through the country’s fuel market.
Ukraine has targeted refineries as part of an effort to reduce the oil revenues supporting Russia’s war effort and limit Moscow’s ability to benefit from higher global oil prices. According to Bloomberg, Ukrainian drones struck Russian refineries at least 16 times in May, including eight of the country’s 10 largest facilities. In total, more than 30 attacks were carried out against Russian oil assets during the month, the highest monthly figure since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Fuel shortages spread across Russia
The shortages initially appeared in occupied Crimea before spreading further into Russia. It has been reported that Tatneft has limited gasoline sales to 20 liters per customer in at least six regions, while fuel shortages have affected filling stations in Kuzbass, Tatarstan and the Ulyanovsk and Nizhny Novgorod regions.
The disruption has also affected aviation. In mid-June, six cities, including Nizhny Novgorod and Krasnodar, imposed restrictions on refueling passenger aircraft after airports in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Ufa experienced jet fuel shortages. Russia subsequently banned jet fuel exports through the end of November to prioritize domestic supply.
Refinery output falls
While estimates cited by Energy Intelligence suggested that nearly one-third of Russian refining capacity, or approximately 2.14 million barrels per day, was idle in early June, that figure represents capacity temporarily offline rather than permanent losses and fluctuates as damaged facilities return to service.
Data from analytics firm OilX cited by Bloomberg indicated that Russian refinery throughput averaged 4.58 million barrels per day in May, down around 13 percent from a year earlier and the lowest level since 2009. The Moscow Times reported that output fell below 4 million barrels per day during the first week of June, marking a 21-year low.
Ukrainian attacks have increasingly focused on secondary processing units, which convert crude oil into gasoline and diesel. These systems are more difficult to repair and often require imported components affected by sanctions. Damage to these units can take months to address.
Moscow moves to stabilize supplies
Russia has sought to stabilize supplies through subsidies and regulatory changes. Oil companies reportedly received 700 billion rubles, equivalent to approximately $9.7 billion, in subsidies during April and May. Authorities have also authorized the sale of lower-grade Euro-3 gasoline in place of Euro-5 fuel to increase availability.
Wholesale fuel prices have risen sharply. According to The Moscow Times, diesel prices on the exchange have increased by 43 percent since January, while jet fuel prices are up 40 percent. Retail gasoline prices rose 3.93 percent in the month leading up to early June, their fastest increase since 2018.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov downplayed the situation on May 21, saying supply and demand remained balanced and attributing lower production to seasonal maintenance.
However, Yaroslav Kabakov, a strategist at Russian brokerage Finam, argued that the disruption is supply-driven and warned that the situation could worsen as fuel demand peaks later in the summer.
While Russian authorities maintain that supplies remain under control, the growing impact on fuel availability highlights the increasingly strategic role that long-range drone operations are playing in the conflict.
RELATED CONTENT: 9 ways the war in Ukraine has changed counter-UAS
Post Image Credit: Image shared via social media
Follow C-UAS Hub on LinkedIn for regular counter-UAS content updates.
