Russian Region Deploys Police at Gas Stations As Fuel Crisis Deepens

Police have been deployed around the clock at gas stations in Russia’s Irkutsk region to manage long queues and prevent customers from filling canisters, as the fuel crisis deepens owing to Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries.

The deployment follows a decision by Igor Kobzev, governor of the Siberian Irkutsk region, to declare a state of “high alert” over insufficient fuel shipments. 

Police officers and Russian National Guard units have been sent to filling stations to direct traffic, control queues and enforce a ban on filling fuel canisters, independent Russian media outlet The Moscow Times reported on Monday. 

“The fuel situation in the city remains tense,” Irkutsk Deputy Mayor Sergei Gavrin said, adding that many drivers were trying to buy reserve supplies of gasoline and slowing down queues. 

Gavrin said police would remain at gas stations around the clock to “monitor compliance with the restrictions.” 

Authorities have warned that drivers caught trying to stockpile fuel could face steep fines.  

Irkutsk police said on Monday that they had detained and fined four people accused of reselling gasoline at inflated prices after Kobzev ordered a crackdown on price gouging. 

Refineries under fire 

General fuel shortages have spread across more than 50 Russian regions after Ukrainian drone strikes knocked out roughly a quarter of Russia’s total national refining capacity. 

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Zelensky condemned Russia’s “attacks on life itself” and vowed Ukraine will respond “with precision, not as terrorists.”

On Friday, Russian-installed authorities in occupied Crimea declared a state of emergency after Ukrainian strikes left large parts of the peninsula without power and prompted the authorities to suspend fuel sales to civilians. 

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, acknowledged on Sunday that fuel supply problems had created shortages in several regions, adding that a task force was working to ensure sufficient supplies across the country. 

Kyiv has stepped up medium- and long-range attacks on industrial targets in Russia and Russian-controlled territories inside Ukraine, focusing mainly on the oil sector.