Ukraine Drone Campaign Triggers Russian Oil Crisis
By Reuters | 26 Sep, 2025

Russian motorists are lining up at gas stations in over 10 regions experiencing shortages due to Ukrainian drone attacks targeting oil refineries and export terminals.

Cars queue for fuel at a petrol station in the Black Sea resort city of Saky (Saki), Crimea September 26, 2025. REUTERS/Alexey Pavlishak

A long queue of cars outside a petrol station in Sevastopol, a port city in Russian-controlled Crimea, laid bare the challenges drivers across Russia are facing in a widening gasoline crisis.

As Ukraine has stepped up drone attacks on Russian refineries and export terminals in recent weeks, motorists are feeling the bite.

One man, Alexander Semin, told Reuters he had waited for 40 minutes to fill his tank in Sevastopol the previous day, although he said he was "not panicking."

Shortages of fuel and disruptions to gasoline supplies have been reported for more than a month in more than 10 regions across Russia, the Izvestia newspaper reported, citing a fuel producers' union.

Sergei Aksyonov, the head of Crimea, acknowledged the problem in a video message on Thursday but assured motorists that gasoline stations would be fully supplied with all types of fuel within two weeks.

Thousands of kilometres north of Crimea, in the historic city of Nizhny Novgorod along the Volga river, locals were experiencing similar problems.

"At both gas stations, there was no 92 or 95 petrol," a taxi driver who gave his name only as Alexei said. "Later it appeared and then disappeared again."

The local governor in the region east of Moscow said this week the disruptions were related to issues down the supply chain and reassured the public that the problems would be solved soon.

Back in Crimea, some drivers like Alexei Zlobin said the situation of shortages required some creativity.

"If you're having trouble with petrol, just take a trolley", he offered.

(Reporting by Reuters in Sevastopol and Nizhny Novgorod; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Hugh Lawson)