--- title: "Russia's Fuel Crisis Deepens as Ukrainian Drone Strikes Knock Out Refineries" description: "About a third of Russia's oil-refining capacity is offline after a sustained Ukrainian drone campaign, pushing gasoline output to multi-decade lows and forcing rationing across more than half of Russia's regions. For one of the world's biggest oil exporters, the shortage is now importing fuel from India." category: "Economy" category_url: https://boursel.com/category/economy author: "Rafael Ortiz" published: 2026-07-05T01:37:08.000Z updated: 2026-07-05T01:37:08.000Z canonical: https://boursel.com/article/russia-s-fuel-crisis-deepens-as-ukrainian-drone-strikes-knock-out-refineries tags: ["russia", "oil", "refineries", "energy", "commodities"] --- # Russia's Fuel Crisis Deepens as Ukrainian Drone Strikes Knock Out Refineries About a third of Russia's oil-refining capacity is offline after a sustained Ukrainian drone campaign, pushing gasoline output to multi-decade lows and forcing rationing across more than half of Russia's regions. For one of the world's biggest oil exporters, the shortage is now importing fuel from India. Russia, one of the world's largest oil producers, is struggling to keep fuel in its own gas stations. A months-long Ukrainian drone campaign against Russian refineries has knocked out a large share of the country's capacity to turn crude into gasoline, and the shortages have spread from the front lines deep into the Russian interior. ## The scale of the damage About a third of Russia's oil-refining capacity is offline, [the Associated Press reported](https://abcnews.com/Business/wireStory/ukrainian-drone-attacks-oil-refineries-plunge-russia-summer-134364824). The amount of crude Russia processed into fuel in June fell 25% from a year earlier, to 3.95 million barrels a day, the lowest level in more than two decades, [according to the AP](https://abcnews.com/Business/wireStory/ukrainian-drone-attacks-oil-refineries-plunge-russia-summer-134364824). Gasoline production dropped 17%, to 850,000 barrels a day from 1.03 million a year before. The damage is the result of a concerted effort. There have been more than 50 reported Ukrainian attacks on refineries, depots, terminals and other oil infrastructure in Russia and annexed Crimea since late March, [the AP reported](https://abcnews.com/Business/wireStory/ukrainian-drone-attacks-oil-refineries-plunge-russia-summer-134364824). One strike hit the Moscow Oil Refinery on the city's outskirts on June 18, with repairs expected to take at least three months. ## Rationing spreads By late June, some form of gasoline rationing had appeared in more than half of Russia's regions, [the AP reported](https://abcnews.com/Business/wireStory/ukrainian-drone-attacks-oil-refineries-plunge-russia-summer-134364824). In the Omsk region, purchases were capped at 40 liters (about 10.5 gallons) per customer; elsewhere, limits of roughly 20 to 30 liters per vehicle have been reported, with drivers required to fill their tanks directly rather than fill cans, [according to Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/2/the-crisis-is-deep-the-view-from-russia-as-fuel-shortages-worsen). In annexed Crimea, authorities imposed rationing in May and later halted sales to civilians altogether, [the AP reported](https://abcnews.com/Business/wireStory/ukrainian-drone-attacks-oil-refineries-plunge-russia-summer-134364824). ## A big exporter turns importer The government's response has been to hoard fuel at home and buy it abroad. Russia has banned exports of gasoline and aviation fuel, with restrictions on diesel exports under discussion, [Al Jazeera reported](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/2/the-crisis-is-deep-the-view-from-russia-as-fuel-shortages-worsen). It has also begun importing petrol, taking in an estimated 60,000 to 80,000 tonnes a month from India, with plans to source far more, [according to Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/2/the-crisis-is-deep-the-view-from-russia-as-fuel-shortages-worsen). For a country that has long counted energy exports as the backbone of its budget, importing fuel is a striking reversal. ## Why it matters beyond Russia So far, the disruption is largely a domestic one. Russia is still exporting crude oil to international buyers, and global oil prices have not been thrown into turmoil by the refinery outages, since the strikes hit refining rather than crude production. But the loss of refining capacity is not quickly repaired, and it points to a lasting strain on a sector that funds much of the Russian state. The strain is visible at street level. One Moscow resident described waiting many hours in line to buy fuel with a small child, asking whether the country was back in Soviet times "where you had to get coupons," [Fortune reported](https://fortune.com/2026/07/04/russia-fuel-crisis-gasoline-shortage-rationing-ukraine-drones-oil-refineries-soviet-union/). For now, the shortages are a problem for Russian drivers and the Russian budget more than for world markets, but they are a reminder of how a war fought with cheap drones can reach a major economy's most important industry. ## Sources - [Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries plunge Russia into a summer fuel crisis](https://abcnews.com/Business/wireStory/ukrainian-drone-attacks-oil-refineries-plunge-russia-summer-134364824) - [The crisis is deep: The view from Russia as fuel shortages worsen](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/2/the-crisis-is-deep-the-view-from-russia-as-fuel-shortages-worsen)