Ukraine has hit an oil terminal in St. Petersburg in a large-scale drone attack, authorities in Russia's second-largest city confirmed.
Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko said drones had struck the port of Vysotsk, located about 170 km from the city. The port handles trade in oil, grain, coal and liquefied natural gas, Reuters reported. Drozdenko also said 72 drones had been shot down over the Leningrad Region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the attack. "Ukrainian Defense Forces struck the port oil infrastructure that provides revenue for the Russian war, as well as Kronstadt - an important military target located more than 850 km from the state border of Ukraine," he wrote on Telegram. Kronstadt is home to Russia's Baltic Fleet.
"Gasoline shortage is no longer just an economic problem"
In recent weeks, Ukraine has been attacking energy infrastructure in Russia, with Zelensky officially confirming that this is a strategy to pressure Moscow to end the full-scale war that has been going on for more than four years.
Last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that the government was negotiating fuel imports from other countries to stabilize the situation at gas stations in the country.
Russia is the world's third-largest oil producer, but authorities in Novorossiysk, home to Russia's largest oil terminal, announced on Friday that they were suspending fuel sales to private individuals. "The gasoline shortage is no longer just an economic problem - it is a test of the government's ability to deal with an acute crisis that affects the core of normal daily life," said Russian political analyst Ilya Grashchenkov.
Putin was forced to admit the problem
The New York Times' sources in Russia tell of tension, in some places even escalating into fighting, in lines at gas stations across the country. Russian media reports that only in two regions of the country - Chukotka and Kalmykia - there are no shortages or sales restrictions.
According to the newspaper "Kommersant", one fifth of taxi drivers in Russia have stopped working. A number of companies in the industry are already worried that they will have to cease operations. The biggest hit have been the big cities, especially the capital Moscow, whose oil refineries were also hit by Ukrainian drones.
The Russian economy relies heavily on its oil and gas industry. Now the country is being forced to impose export restrictions in an attempt to contain the situation. Even President Putin, who has always stressed in his public statements that his country's plans and the operation in Ukraine are going according to plan, has acknowledged the problems. The Ukrainian attacks are aimed at "driving a wedge into Russian society and forcing Russia to stop, even briefly, the advance of its troops on the front line," he said after calling an emergency meeting over the fuel crisis.
Tensions among Russians are rising
Putin is trying to downplay the damage to the Russian economy, while experts say about a third of Russia's refineries are out of order. According to official government figures, Russia's gasoline production has fallen by about 17% to 850,000 barrels per day. This has led to the closure of gas stations across the country and long queues in some places. In an attempt to ease the fuel shortage, the government has allowed the production of lower-quality gasoline with a higher sulfur content, which was banned years ago.
The current situation is particularly shocking for young Russians, who are not used to such shortages and restrictions. "Are we in the Soviet Union to shop with coupons?" asks a young woman from Irkutsk who waited more than 18 hours to fill up her car. In an interview with the “New York Times” she describes the situation as “annoying and exhausting”.
The resentment is also affecting the ratings of the ruling party, with even government polls showing a decline in support for Putin. The Levada Center, meanwhile, notes that the number of Russians who believe the country is moving in the right direction has dropped to 52%.