Russia scrambles for fuel imports after refinery damage from Ukrainian drone strikes
Russia is facing a widening fuel crisis after Ukrainian long-range drone attacks damaged refinery capacity and disrupted domestic gasoline supply. The shortage has forced the Kremlin to seek emergency imports and processing arrangements abroad, including shipments routed through Turkey, India and Kazakhstan. The pressure has also led to rationing at filling stations in several Russian regions.
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The most recent confirmed shipment was a 200,000-barrel gasoline cargo bought from Turkey and sent from Mersin to the Baltic port of Primorsk. The cargo is being carried on a sanctioned tanker, according to the supplied material. It is described as the fifth confirmed seaborne delivery of vehicle fuel to Russia this summer, following earlier shipments via Egypt from a refinery in Vadinar, India, which together totalled 1 million barrels.
Russia has also signed a deal with the Kondensat oil refinery in western Kazakhstan to process Russian crude outside the country. Under the arrangement, 70% of the refined fuel would be shipped back to Russia, with oil delivered by rail because the refinery is not connected to a Russian pipeline. The supplied material also says imports from Belarus have risen sharply, with June volumes up by a factor of 141 compared with the same month last year.
The developments matter because they show how attacks on energy infrastructure are now affecting Russia's domestic fuel market, not just its export earnings. Refining capacity is central to the country's ability to supply motorists, industry and regional markets, so any sustained disruption can quickly become a political and logistical problem. The need to source fuel from multiple foreign suppliers also highlights the strain on Russia's wartime energy system.
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The supplied material says at least six Russian regions have reinstated or tightened restrictions on gasoline sales, and that a new wave of strikes completely shut down the Orsk refinery. It also says Russian officials had hoped earlier in the summer that the fuel crisis was easing, but August brought a renewed intensification. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak had said in July that Russia would begin importing oil products to help stabilise the domestic market.
What remains unclear is how long the refinery disruption will last and whether the emergency imports will be enough to prevent further rationing. It is also not clear how much additional fuel Russia can secure from foreign partners if attacks continue. The next developments to watch are the pace of refinery repairs, any further regional restrictions on sales, and whether Moscow expands its import arrangements again.
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