The regional committee for industrial policy, trade, and fuel and energy said the restrictions were introduced due to "sharply increased demand." Under the new rules, a single buyer can purchase no more than 40 liters of gasoline; Lukoil also limited diesel sales to 60 liters within the city limits and 200 liters outside them.
In the early hours of July 31, Ukrainian drones struck the Lukoil refinery in Volgograd and a Wildberries logistics center. According to Governor Andrei Bocharov, a woman was killed and eight people were injured, with damage reported to a residential building, a fuel and energy enterprise, and warehouse facilities. Satellite services detected a thermal anomaly at the Lukoil-Volgogradneftepererabotka refinery, and the Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova+ published photos of the burning facility. The Ukrainian General Staff confirmed the attack on the plant, noting that the enterprise is "involved" in supplying the Russian army.
Following the publication of photos and videos showing the aftermath of the attack, three local residents were detained in Volgograd. According to V1.ru, they were forced to apologize on camera. One of the detainees said she sent a photo of the fire to a building chat at a neighbor's request; another said she posted the image in a city chat to find out what had happened. A young man said he had posted a video of the warehouse and now understands it could have helped "the enemy side" in adjusting strikes.
The region has a ban on filming and distributing the aftermath of drone attacks, with fines of up to 1 million rubles for violations. Security forces also threatened criminal charges for treason. Political scientist Abbas Gallyamov links the authorities' attention to this issue to the fact that visual images matter more to mass audiences than words: without images of burning targets, it is easier to maintain the illusion that everything is going according to plan.
Sources differ: according to the governor, a woman was killed and eight people were injured in the attack; The Moscow Times reports the same figures citing Bocharov, while noting that the refinery and the Wildberries warehouse were targeted. Meanwhile, 7x7 reports the detention of three people for posting photos and videos, while V1.ru, which 7x7 cites, publishes video of their apologies but does not specify who made the decision to detain them.