3:36 PM, August 18, 2026Source: Izvestia

As of August 16, gasoline and diesel fuel were available at only 28% of Russian gas stations included in the GdeBenz app database , according to the pro-government newspaper Izvestia, which analyzed the service’s data.

A week earlier, according to GdeBenz, fuel was available at 41% of gas stations. Over the past week, gasoline and diesel availability has decreased in the Volgograd, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Voronezh, Samara, Penza, Saratov, Lipetsk, Rostov regions, and Tatarstan.

Over the past week, authorities in at least eight Russian regions reported problems at gas stations, including fuel shortages and queues, according to the Agency.  Media outlets and social media users reported fuel shortages in 13 more regions .

On August 17, Izvestia correspondents checked the fuel availability at 21 gas stations in Moscow and the Moscow region: 92-octane gasoline was available at seven stations, 95-octane gasoline at six, and 98-octane gasoline at only five. “Even diesel isn’t available everywhere,” the pro-government newspaper noted. An RBC correspondent visited ten gas stations in Moscow, and only two were operational.

For his part, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev stated on August 18 that gasoline and diesel fuel are available at Russian gas stations. He also acknowledged that queues are forming at gas stations. He added that the government is “actively working to resolve this issue.”

One of the reasons for the fuel crisis in Russia is Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil companies.

The first wave of the crisis lasted from late May. Fuel restrictions were imposed across the country, forcing residents to wait in hours-long lines at gas stations. By mid-July, restrictions began to gradually ease.

A new wave of the fuel crisis began in August, when Ukrainian drones again began attacking oil refineries.

(C)MEDUZA 2026