A fuel crisis is escalating in Russia amid ongoing Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries.

The fuel shortage previously experienced in occupied Sevastopol and Crimea has reached the capital region.

In Moscow, signs have begun appearing at gas stations limiting gasoline sales to 60 liters per person and diesel fuel to 100 liters. This fuel policy will remain in effect “until further notice,” according to messages highlighted by the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel.

Prior to this, Russian-appointed authorities in Sevastopol first limited gasoline sales to 20 liters per stomer and introduced coupons for diesel fuel, then announced a “temporary” shortage of AI-92 and AI-95 gasoline.

In Crimea, the limit on AI-95 sales was also reduced to 20 liters per customer. Fuel sales limits were also imposed in other occupied regions of Ukraine, including the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions.

According to Bloomberg calculations , Ukraine set a wartime record in May, attacking Russian refineries 16 times in a single month. More than 10 strikes also hit oil pipelines, oil depots, and ports. According to Reuters , by the second half of May, Russian refineries with a combined daily capacity of 238,000 tons—about a quarter of the country’s total—were shut down.

Meanwhile, oil refining in central Russia has virtually ceased following strikes on major refineries in Kirishi, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, and Yaroslavl.

Together, they produced over 30% of the country’s gasoline and approximately 25% of its diesel fuel. Furthermore, Russia has encountered difficulties with overland fuel delivery to Crimea, as Ukrainian medium-range drones  have largely secured  the federal highway R-280 “Novorossiya” from Rostov. This is even acknowledged by Z-military correspondents.

As Rybar reported, Russian logistics for supplying the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia “oblasts,” as well as Crimea, are “partially paralyzed,” as the Ukrainian Armed Forces have significantly increased the number of drone strikes against vehicles.

(C)THE MOSCOW TIMES 2026