Could Russia’s worsening fuel crisis be a tipping point?
Fuel shortages in Russia have made headlines around the world. While middle-class Russians were once relatively protected from the fall-out of the Kremlin’s war of aggression in Ukraine, now even well-heeled Muscovites are feeling its effects: there are queues at every functioning petrol station in the capital, according to recent reports. Waves of Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries, among other targets, have caused the shortages. The economic impact of the full-scale invasion is being felt everywhere at home, and reports show Putin’s approval ratings have taken a hit.
But before the petrol crisis went nationwide, fuel was already being rationed in Russian-occupied Crimea. Attacks on infrastructure and transport led to shortages on the peninsula – which was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014 – as early as May. By mid-June, no petrol was available for anyone or anything, apart from “government agencies that ensure the functioning and security of Crimea,” authorities announced.
Alexandra Loktionova, a correspondent for the Russian business daily Kommersant, painted a dystopian picture in her report when she travelled to the peninsula.
In the city of Simferopol, “the central avenues, usually congested during rush hour, resemble the set of a disaster movie,” she writes. Petrol stations, however, haven’t closed. “They’ve been repurposed as roadside cafes and mini-markets. They sell coffee, chocolate bars, and antifreeze.” In contrast to a few weeks prior, there are no queues outside: people know the government’s restrictions on fuel mean it’s not worth waiting for petrol here.
Loktionova sets out with Viktoria, a Simferopol native who works as a social media manager, as she searches – without much hope – for fuel.
“Periodically, Viktoria approaches the lucky drivers still moving around the city and asks them where they got petrol,” writes the journalist. Some say they stocked up before the shortage. Others have travelled out of the occupied territory and into mainland Russia where some petrol stations are still functioning. The rest refuse to answer.
“They’re afraid to look me in the eye,” Viktoria tells the correspondent. “That’s how we live now: with an empty tank and a look of distrust.”
Others look on the bright side. Sergey, a welder, tells Loktionova that the crisis has prompted him to get back on his bicycle. “It doesn’t need petrol, and you can park it anywhere … we’ll soon be the cycling capital of the south,” he laughs (other reports from shortage-hit cities have noted this move to different forms of transportation; in some rural regions, horses are preferred over bikes).
The Kommersant correspondent ends her dispatch with a call from Crimean authorities to “remain calm”. But the newspaper’s headline for the piece – “The Last Drop” – suggests another outcome is possible. While the title on one level refers to a liquid in short supply, it is also the Russian equivalent of the phrase “the final straw”. Could this fuel crisis, in Crimea and elsewhere, be the one that breaks the camel’s back?
The original article, ‘Последняя капля’ was first published in Russian by Alexandra Loktionova for Kommersant on June 23, 2026.
Kommersant is a Russian-language business daily newspaper.
Summary by Theo Merz
