After the first wave of the fuel crisis subsided in late July, several Russian regions lifted restrictions on gasoline sales, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Astrakhan, Volgograd, Rostov, and Omsk regions. However, on July 21, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak acknowledged that the situation remained tense in some areas, and on July 30, the government extended a full ban on fuel exports until the end of January 2027.
The new wave of shortages was triggered by another series of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries that began on July 23. In the Altai Republic, authorities allowed drivers to refuel only once per day. In the Lipetsk and Orenburg regions, fuel purchases are limited to alternating days based on the first digit of a vehicle's license plate, with a cap of 30 liters per car. In the Krasnodar region, long queues formed at gas stations, and the Krasnodar city administration stopped publishing data on the share of operating filling stations. Some regions have again banned the sale of gasoline in canisters.
In August, Novak ordered officials to ensure uninterrupted fuel supplies to the regions and monitor prices. The government also permitted the production, import, and sale of lower environmental class gasoline (Euro-2, Euro-3, and Euro-4) until July 1, 2027. Russia has begun importing fuel: the first shipments from Belarus arrived in July, a Moroccan shipment arrived at the end of that month, and an Indian shipment arrived on August 5.
Independent oil and gas market consultant Boris Aronshtein told TV Rain that imports are unlikely to help: the Indian shipment of 42,000 tons is "of course, very little" and is more political than economic in nature. According to him, government measures — the export ban, limits on fuel dispensing, and redistribution between regions — do not increase refining capacity.
Aronshtein noted a cumulative effect: refineries have not had time to recover from previous strikes. For example, the Ufa refinery, attacked in mid-July, had not yet resumed operations when it was hit again by drones several days ago, and the plant will likely remain offline until the New Year. "If this situation continues for another 4-8 weeks, the country could indeed slide toward collapse," the expert warned. A collapse could begin if 40 percent or more of refining capacity is taken offline at once, he said. Economic commentator Vyacheslav Shiryaev, citing data from Ekho, estimates remaining gasoline production at about 20 percent of previous levels.