The Ukrainian attacks that are forcing Russia to ration its fuel

Several regions, including Russian-occupied Crimea and parts of Siberia, have started rationing at gas stations

- Yaroslav Trofimov & Georgi Kantchev

The late Sen. John McCain once called Russia "a gas station with nukes." Now, because of Ukrainian attacks, it must ration fuel.

The intensifying Ukrainian drone campaign against Russian refineries has taken some 13% of Russia's fuel production offline, according to analysts. Sanctions imposed by the West after the 2022 invasion, meanwhile, have limited Moscow's ability to repair infrastructure and service remaining installations.

At the same time, the now frequent disruptions by Ukrainian drones to Russia's rail networks and airports have forced more Russians to travel by road during their summer holidays, just as fuel demand spiked because of the harvest season.

As a result, several regions, including Russian-occupied Crimea and parts of Siberia, have implemented rationing at gas stations. Where gas is available, it is much more expensive—Russian wholesale prices for 95-octane gasoline have risen 45% this year so far, even as global crude oil prices have significantly declined.

"The war is not just on the front line. So any systemic hit has an asymmetric importance," said Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraine's former foreign minister. "These strikes don't have a direct impact on the military activity, but they do impact the Russian economy. And the Russian economy already has problems, so even a small push can create bottlenecks and multiply problems inside that system."

Ukraine started hitting Russian refineries in 2023 as it developed its long-range drone industry. More than a dozen Russian refineries have been hit over the past month, some several hundred miles from the border, as Ukrainian drones became more potent and more numerous.