18 August 2026

Russia is an “energy superpower” – just don’t ask where the gasoline went. Fuel shortages are spreading across at least 12 regions, with empty gas stations and kilometer-long queues appearing thousands of kilometers from the front line in Ukraine. And Moscow’s solution? Import gasoline from India. There is just one small problem: the fuel is sitting on tankers because Russian companies cannot agree on a price. So while Russian drivers wake up at 4 a.m. and spend hours waiting for a few liters of gasoline, the Kremlin is spending billions on war, while continuing to portray Russia as an energy superpower. Join Benjamin Lee in a new episode of Break the Fake to find out what is really behind Russia’s growing fuel crisis.