In Russia, drivers are waiting for days in queues at gas stations, spending the night in their cars or replacing them with public transport or bicycles. There are reports of places in the queues being sold for 400 euros.
The crisis in Russia, caused by a shortage of gasoline following Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries in response to the Russian army's attacks on Ukraine, has engulfed many parts of Russia. Drivers are spending hours in front of gas stations, and in some regions - even all day. In search of working gas stations, people are driving around cities and spending the night in their cars while waiting for their turn. Conflicts and fights often occur.
Federal and regional authorities call the deficit artificial, explaining it by panic demand and speculators. The State Duma of Russia accused the government of trying to hide the real scale of the fuel crisis.
According to Reuters, as early as the end of June, gasoline production in Russia had fallen by 25% - to 85 thousand tons per day. State Duma deputy Nina Ostanina said that 30% of oil refineries were out of operation. And according to calculations by The Bell, by mid-June there were restrictions on the sale of fuel to private motorists in at least 50 regions of Russia. In this regard, Russian media reports that only in two regions of the country - Chukotka and Kalmykia - there is no shortage or restrictions on sales.
There are reports of people waiting in line for gasoline for 36 hours or more, and that a place in the line costs 35 thousand rubles (nearly 400 euros), as users write on social networks.
Public transport instead of private cars
Residents of Russian regions report closed gas stations and long queues in front of those who still have gasoline. "This is some kind of struggle for survival in the literal sense of the word", says a resident of Gelendzhik. The woman is angry not only because of the shortage, but also because of the actions of speculators - she believes that they are buying up gasoline and reselling it at inflated prices.
Due to the fuel shortage, many Russians are changing their daily habits. Some people combine with others to travel in one car to go to the store or take their children to school, while others abandon their cars and switch to public transport.
However, the crisis has also affected the passenger transport market. As "Kommersant" wrote, due to the problem with petrol, taxi drivers have started to go to work less often and more often refuse long journeys and orders in the centres of large cities. And the decline in the number of taxis leads to an increase in the cost of travel.
Discontent among the population is growing
In many places, petrol is sold only to "special transport", i.e. company cars. This is done against special certificates. In Volgograd, emergency services and local administration employees are filling up only with fuel cards, local media reported.
This has sparked heated discussions on social media: some blame speculators, while others are angry with the authorities for not telling the truth. In this regard, Ostanina asks why the Minister of Agriculture and the Deputy Prime Minister responsible for this department are silent on the eve of the harvest. "After all, the country may be left without bread, which in the conditions of international sanctions is tantamount to death", the Russian MP wrote on her Telegram channel.
How do the Russian authorities explain the shortage of gasoline?
At the same time, the federal authorities continue to deny the existence of a systemic shortage of gasoline, explaining the situation with panic buying and the actions of speculators. According to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, "only at individual gas stations" there are temporary problems. Against the backdrop of a 20 to 30 percent increase in demand in the country, he claims that there is enough fuel and that the problem will be solved by restructuring logistics.
A similar explanation is given by regional authorities - a number of governors blame the problem on resellers.
Putin's rating and the fuel crisis
Against this backdrop, trust in Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to decline. According to a survey by the Public Opinion Fund (FOM), conducted on June 19-21, in one week it fell from 74% to 69%. This is its lowest value for the entire period of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. At the same time, Russians are increasingly concerned about the economic situation - primarily due to rising prices and the cost of living.
However, such sentiments do not seem to be contributing to ending the war. According to a survey by the "Levada-Center", the share of supporters of the war in June was 6 percentage points higher than in March 2026, and the share of Russians who support peace negotiations fell by 7 percentage points compared to February 2026.