Months of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries have forced Moscow to begin importing petrol from India, according to Reuters, indicating how Kyiv’s long-range attacks are increasingly disrupting Russia’s domestic fuel supplies. The attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure have led to an extreme fuel crisis, felt across the country’s eleven time zones, with rationing, choked supplies for motorists, who have now taken to queuing at gas stations, and a record rise in petrol prices.
Importing fuel from other nations at acceptable rates is under consideration, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, confirming that conversations with some countries were “underway”.
He described the move as “another step toward stabilizing the market and aimed at reducing panic-buying”, the Associated Press reported.
However, Russia’s energy ministry and India’s oil ministry have not commented on the development yet.
According to an industry source, quoted by Reuters, at least 60,000 metric tons of petrol were dispatched from India to Russia. Two tankers, with parcels of 30,000 to 40,000 tons each, were also sent, another source informed the news agency.
Russia’s parliament last week also approved amendments to its tax code, aimed at tackling the fuel shortages. It also offered subsidies on fuel imports, pegged to Indian delivery costs and prices, the report added.
Petrol consumption in Russia is at least 110,000 tons per day in summer, significantly increasing fuel demand in the country.
Story continues below this ad
In total, Russia is planning to import 400,000 tons of petrol from multiple countries each month, including from neighbouring Belarus, a third source told Reuters. Belarus has already tripled petrol rail supplies to Russia, sending over 70,000 tons in the first half of June as compared to the first half of May, according to Reuters.
Ukraine attacks and fuel shortage in Russia
Ukraine has carried out over 50 attacks on oil refineries, depots, terminals and other oil infrastructure across Russia and the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula since late March this year, AP reported.
The attacks have led to a decrease in petrol production, around 17 per cent to 850,000 barrels per day, as compared to 1.03 million a day in 2025.
This number is far short of what Russia’s domestic market needs to sustain itself.
Story continues below this ad
Similar attacks that began earlier this year, moreover, forced Moscow authorities to enact fuel rationing on the peninsula in the month of May and halt sales to civilians several weeks later, AP reported. However, limited sales resumed in the city of Sevastopol later.
Ukrainian officials have described the strikes as a campaign to pressure Moscow to end the war — in its fifth year now — by undermining its military logistics, supply lines and weakening its ability to mount assaults along the front, AP noted.
What have Russian authorities said?
Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged that “problems persist for both motorists and businesses,” and “there are still queues at petrol stations, and finding the right grade of petrol isn’t always easy.”
Putin said Russia’s stockpiles of petrol are only 4 per cent lower than what it was in 2025, according to news agency AP, as he insisted the shortages are “not critical” and “temporary.”
Story continues below this ad
Meanwhile, Russia’s Prime Minister Alexander Novak assured that the country’s domestic fuel market continues to be well-supplied with gasoline and diesel, while the government is trying to tackle the problems quickly, news agency Reuters reported.
He, too, acknowledged the shortages at a few fuel refilling stations, calling it a result of “supply chain disruption”, adding that oil majors were keeping retail prices in check, the report said.
Latest attacks on Russia
In June, Ukraine carried out drone strikes on Russia’s two largest cities, targeting an oil terminal in St. Petersburg and the Moscow Oil Refinery on the capital’s outskirts, AP reported.
By late June, instances of gas rationing came to be reported in more than half of Russia’s regions, with some imposing strict limits on all gas stations.
Story continues below this ad
Officials have turned to motorists, urging them to fill their tanks only when needed. Exports of petrol and aviation fuel have also been restricted, while authorities weighed banning diesel fuel exports.
