Russia considers fuel imports amid Ukraine’s strikes on refineries: newspaper
Russia is considering fuel imports and corresponding subsidies to cap prices as ways to mitigate supply disruptions of petrol and diesel caused by Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries, Vedomosti daily reported on Tuesday, citing two unnamed sources. Numerous regions across Russia, the world’s third-
By Reuters
Russia is considering fuel imports and corresponding subsidies to cap prices as ways to mitigate supply disruptions of petrol and diesel caused by Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries, Vedomosti daily reported on Tuesday, citing two unnamed sources.
Numerous regions across Russia, the world’s third-largest crude oil producer, have reported restrictions on fuel sales, rising prices of oil products and long queues at filling stations due to supply shortages.
Apart from supplying crude oil overseas, Russia normally exports various oil products.
However, Ukrainian attacks on its refineries have forced it to ban exports of petrol and jet fuel.
The newspaper said imports were raised as an option at a meeting on fuel supplies chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak on Monday.
Two industry sources told Reuters that subsidies on imported fuel were also considered at the meeting, with the aim of capping fuel prices, a sensitive issue for the public and an unwanted trigger for wider inflation.
Novak’s office did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.
Russia lost about 25 per cent of its petrol output last week, compared with the daily average in June 2025, with a drop to some 90,000 metric tons (765,000 barrels) per day, industry sources said.
According to LSEG data and market sources, Russia’s seaborne oil products exports fell 15 per cent to about 3.3 million tons in the first half of June, compared to the first half of May, due to unplanned refinery maintenance after repeated drone attacks.
Last week, four industry sources said Russia was set to import fuel by sea in June as it seeks to manage the petrol shortage.
On Tuesday, as the war continued, Ukraine’s military said it had destroyed a railway bridge over the North Crimean canal, describing it as a strategic military-logistics crossing used by Russian forces.
Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces said on Telegram they carried out two strikes on the bridge near the village of Rozdolne in occupied Crimea, in cooperation with underground members of the resistance movement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Ukraine was attacking civilian targets in Russia in an attempt to destabilise society.
Ukraine’s attacks on oil refineries have doubled since the start of 2026
Speaking to graduates of military and security institutions, Putin said he did not see grounds for direct talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky given what he described as Kyiv’s strikes on civilian targets.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.