Russia faces fuel rationing as Putin rejects ceasefire calls
Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy sites have cut refining capacity, while Moscow says it will keep fighting until its war goals are met.
By Maya Lindqvist · Senior Technology Correspondent
3 min read
Fuel shortages and rationing are spreading across parts of Russia after months of Ukrainian strikes on refineries and other energy sites, the Associated Press reported. President Vladimir Putin has played down the damage while rejecting ceasefire proposals, signaling that Moscow intends to keep pressing its war against Ukraine.
The strain on Russia’s fuel system has grown as Ukraine targets infrastructure tied to Moscow’s war effort. The Associated Press reported that more than 50 attacks on oil refineries and energy facilities in Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea have been reported since March.
Ukrainian leaders have described the strikes as a way to put pressure on the Kremlin to end the war, according to AP. The attacks have also undercut Putin’s effort to keep the conflict distant from daily life for many Russians, AP reported.
Chris Weafer, chief executive of Macro-Advisory, told AP that about one-third of Russia’s refining capacity has been taken offline. He said the damage will be expensive to repair.
AP reported that one major refinery in Moscow has been struck twice despite the capital’s heavy air defenses. A June 18 attack set the site on fire and damaged equipment that reportedly may not be fixed until the end of the year.
Russian government statistics cited by AP show gasoline production has fallen by about 17%, to 850,000 barrels a day. Rationing has been imposed in many regions, and some drivers have waited hours to fill their tanks, AP reported.
Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, has been hit hardest by shortages, according to AP. Gasoline sales to individuals there have at times been stopped altogether.
Putin calls shortages temporary
Putin convened government officials last weekend to discuss the fuel problems, AP reported. In televised remarks, he said Russia was in a “difficult period,” promised faster repairs at energy facilities and said the government could consider gasoline imports to ease what he called temporary shortages.
Putin also said Russia’s defense industry would increase production of air defense systems to counter Ukrainian attacks, according to AP. He described the strikes as an effort to split Russian society, slow Russia’s offensive and push Moscow into talks on terms favorable to its opponents.
Putin said Ukraine’s long-range strikes on energy sites had “absolutely no effect on the situation at the front,” AP reported. Western military analysts cited by AP say Ukrainian mid-range attacks on Russian forces have disrupted logistics and slowed Russian advances in recent months, contributing to a battlefield stalemate.
Putin has claimed Russian troops continue to move forward along the roughly 1,000-kilometer, or 620-mile, front line, according to AP. In a recent state television interview, he pointed to small villages and streets in Ukraine as examples of Russian gains.
Ceasefire proposals rejected
Putin has rejected a truce proposed by Kyiv and its Western allies, saying it would allow Ukrainian forces to rest and regroup, AP reported. He has said any ceasefire would require Ukraine to withdraw from the part of Donetsk it still controls, a demand Ukraine has rejected.
According to AP, Putin has also said a final settlement must require Ukraine to abandon its NATO ambitions, cut the size of its military and protect Russian language and culture. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered to meet Putin, while Putin has answered by saying Zelenskyy should come to Moscow, a proposal AP described as unacceptable to Ukraine.
Putin claimed Ukraine had offered through confidential channels to limit fighting to Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, the four Ukrainian regions Russia claims to have annexed but does not fully control, AP reported. Ukrainian officials have not publicly discussed such a proposal.
Russia launched an 11-hour overnight attack on Kyiv into Thursday morning that killed at least 30 people, AP reported. Russia said it was targeting military sites, while AP reported that residential areas were hit; the United Nations says more than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed during the war.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.