At least 15 Russian regions introduced restrictions on fuel sales on June 23, according to reports from various Russian officials and media outlets.
Russia has been facing a growing fuel shortage exacerbated by Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries. Last week's strike on the Moscow Oil Refinery halted operations at the facility — one of the largest in Russia, responsible for 40% of the Moscow fuel market and the majority of the region's gasoline.
Authorities in at least 15 Russian regions have implemented restrictions on gasoline and diesel sales, while obscuring the connection to the war in Ukraine.
In Belgorod Oblast, regional authorities claimed fuel supplies were sufficient but limits were necessary to "prevent a possible shortage." The region limited individuals to no more than 30 liters of gasoline or 60 liters of diesel at Lukoil stations, while also introducing restrictions to canisters of fuel at Rosneft stations. The region's Gazprom Neft stations have stopped selling AI-95 gasoline.
Most Russian officials have hewed to the same party line, alleging that the restrictions are meant to prevent an "artificial" fuel shortage.
Limits on fuel sales have also been imposed in Irkutsk, Bryansk, Kursk, Novosibirsk, Saratov, Tyumen, Penza, Voronezh, Murmansk, Vladimir, and Omsk oblasts. Russia's Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, North Ossetia-Alania Republic, and Krasnoyarsk Krai have also implemented restrictions.
Some of these regions lie thousands of kilometers from the Ukrainian border, reflecting the growing reach of Kyiv's strike campaign — and the Kremlin's growing failure to keep the war out of Russia.
