Long Lines in Moscow: How Did Ukraine's Attacks Cause Total Paralysis?

An unprecedented wave of Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries has led to a renewed fuel shortage throughout Russia. Crude oil refining operations have dropped to their lowest levels in over two decades, while car drivers face increasing gasoline shortages amid long queues.

According to Bloomberg, fuel availability improved during the slowdown in Ukrainian attacks on Russia's refining infrastructure in the second half of July, but this improvement did not last long, as Ukrainian forces launched at least 21 attacks on refineries in August—the highest monthly total recorded so far.

According to a report by the website "United24," the effects have become tangible even in Moscow and its surrounding area, the largest fuel markets in Russia and typically the most abundant in supplies. Reports indicate that residents have begun exchanging daily information through local chat groups about gas stations still offering gasoline and the length of waiting lines; scenes of queues containing between 30 and 50 vehicles have increasingly become common in the capital.

These renewed pressures come as Ukraine intensifies its campaign against Russia's oil refining sector, aiming to disrupt a major revenue source and bring the economic consequences of the war deep into Russian territory.

As a result, oil refining in Russia has declined to levels approaching their lowest in over two decades, according to Bloomberg, citing data from EA Analytics, a firm under the consultancy Energy Aspects.

The country processed slightly over 3.8 million barrels of crude oil per day in August, compared to typical summer rates ranging between 5.3 and 5.5 million barrels processed daily.

This decline has also affected fuel production; gasoline output and domestic supply volumes for the Russian market fell by nearly 20% year-on-year during the first three weeks of August, according to a source familiar with the data quoted by Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, diesel production dropped by more than 23% during the same period, although domestic diesel supplies declined by only about 3%; this is primarily due to Russia's restrictions on most diesel exports during the current summer, which kept larger quantities of supplies within the country.