A Russian police officer pulled out his sidearm to enforce queues at a gas station near Irkutsk in Siberia, according to Russian media.
In the village of Ust-Ordynsky near Irkutsk, a 36-year-old man jumped the five-hour queue for gasoline on Sunday, Independent Russian outlet Astra reported.
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Other drivers confronted the man before the police intervened, and the man threatened the police officer. He reportedly began walking toward the policeman while hurling insults, to which the latter responded by pointing his pistol at the man while walking backward.
“You better put your phone away, or I’ll f**king break it. Why are you holding a gun? I don’t give a s**t how long you’re standing here,” the man was heard saying before being apprehended.
Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed the incident, according to Astra, with the man detained and a criminal case opened against him.
The incident came amid gasoline rationing introduced in Russia following intensified Ukrainian strikes on oil infrastructure.
In late June, The Moscow Times reported that police officers and the National Guard were deployed to the Irkutsk region to direct traffic, control queues and enforce a ban on filling fuel canisters at gas stations.
Unprecedented fuel crisis
Ukraine’s months-long campaign targeting Russian oil infrastructure has led to an unprecedented fuel crisis for the third-largest oil producer in the world.
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On Saturday, Ukraine’s General Staff said Kyiv’s strikes against Russian oil disabled 42.7% of Russia’s total projected oil refining capacity as of early July 2026, with Russia’s largest oil refinery in Omsk later confirmed targeted for the first time on Monday.
Fuel sales restrictions have been introduced nationwide in Russia in recent weeks, including Moscow and St. Petersburg, with Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledging the crisis as police were sent to enforce fuel rationing in Siberia.
Russian-installed authorities in occupied Crimea announced a state of emergency in late June as logistics to the peninsula have become challenging.
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