Russia has begun importing gasoline after Ukrainian strikes damaged refineries and fuel depots, with a shipment from India reaching the country’s domestic market. Deputy prime minister Alexander Novak acknowledged on Wednesday that imports had started, without giving volumes or sources.
The reversal has brought fuel restrictions back to Moscow and followed shortages reported across Russia and illegally occupied Crimea. State-owned Rosneft has limited petrol purchases to 30 litres at all of its stations nationwide.
How the fuel is reaching Russia
An Oman-flagged tanker carried about 68,000 tonnes of gasoline loaded through a ship-to-ship transfer at Port Said from the tanker Agni, which had taken on the fuel at India’s Vadinar port. The shipment was unloaded at Russia’s Arctic port of Vitino in early August, according to shipping data.
Russia is also arranging rail shipments from Belarus and Kazakhstan and has banned fuel exports. At least two more gasoline cargoes from India are expected to reach Russian ports within two weeks. Diesel has also begun arriving from Asia, according to the source material.
Related coverage: Ukraine Disrupts Russian Fuel and Electricity to Crimea, Deepening Energy Crisis.
Why the imports matter
Russia has traditionally exported fuel, but Ukrainian attacks on its processing and storage infrastructure have caused shortages and forced the country to seek supplies from abroad. The arrival of refined Indian products reverses the normal direction of the petroleum trade and highlights the pressure on Russia’s refining capacity.
India has been a major buyer of Russian oil sold at reduced prices under war-related sanctions. The new shipments show that trade relationship also includes refined products moving in the opposite direction.
Other developments in the war
At least five people were killed in Kyiv during Russian missile strikes early Thursday, according to local officials and Ukraine’s military. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said residential areas and warehouses were hit, with upper floors of a nine-storey residential building collapsing and people trapped at another site.
A drone strike in Kherson killed four people, while a drone-missile attack on police headquarters in Zhytomyr killed two officers and wounded at least 20. Russian officials said drone attacks on cars in Belgorod and Bryansk killed two people.
Ukraine and Russia exchanged 103 prisoners of war each on Wednesday. Ukrainian intelligence said another exchange was expected before the end of August.
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