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Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly acknowledged that Ukrainian long-range strikes are creating fuel supply problems inside Russia, as videos obtained by Fox News Digital show long lines, angry motorists and fights erupting at filling stations across several Russian regions.
Speaking at a meeting with government ministers and other officials after a wave of Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure, Putin said on Sunday that strikes on “critical infrastructure” and energy facilities were creating “problems,” including shortages affecting motorists, businesses and agricultural producers, but said Russia was dealing with them, according to Reuters.
The remarks marked a rare admission from the Kremlin that Ukraine’s long-range campaign is having an impact beyond the battlefield.
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For Ukraine, the fuel crisis is evidence that its long-range strike campaign is doing more than damaging individual facilities. The attacks are forcing Moscow to manage visible problems at home, exposing a vulnerability in a country whose global power has long rested on its energy sector.
The shortages have spread across Russia, including occupied Crimea, southern Russia, Siberia and Moscow. Moscow also is weighing emergency measures, including temporarily allowing the production and import of lower-quality fuel, according to a draft government document reported by the Kommersant daily newspaper.
Maxim Katz, a Russian opposition figure and former Moscow municipal deputy, told Fox News Digital that the fuel shortages are real and increasingly difficult for Russians to ignore.
“There are fuel problems in Russia right now — real ones,” Katz told Fox News Digital. “I’m getting a lot of reports, and I can see it too: It’s hard. You can’t find fuel, or you have to stand in line. In some cities, you have to spend half a day looking for fuel, and then they give you only a little, and you have to get back in line again.”
Katz said the shortages appear tied directly to Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refining capacity.
“They are bombing the refineries very effectively,” he said. “Putin doesn’t have a way to defend them. Right now, it looks like there is no way to defend them, and that is a major pressure point on Putin.”
Videos obtained by Fox News Digital from east2west Russian news outlet show scenes of frustration at Russian filling stations, where drivers are seen waiting in long queues and arguing as shortages bite. In one video, two women appear to argue over a place in line, with one insisting, “I was in the queue,” before the confrontation escalates into shouting and threats.
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In Serov, Russia, police were called after a male driver was seen shouting obscenities at several women before punching one of them, according to a video.
In Ryazan, Russia, video shows a fight breaking out near a forecourt as drivers waited for fuel. In Irkutsk, Russia, a man is seen leaning into the open window of a hatchback and repeatedly hitting another motorist.
One woman, identified only as Tanya, 29, told east2west she waited 13 hours in Siberia to get half a tank of fuel and blamed Putin’s war for the chaos.
“He should stop this senseless conflict and let us live normally,” she said.
Ukraine increasingly has used long-range drones to target Russian oil refineries, depots and supply routes hundreds of miles from its border. Ukraine hit two Russian oil refineries overnight, Reuters reported Sunday, including one in Krasnodar, Russia, and another in Yaroslavl, Russia, as Kyiv continues targeting infrastructure linked to Moscow’s war effort.
‘PURE HELL’ IN MOSCOW AS UKRAINIAN DRONES STRIKE MAJOR REFINERY SUPPLYING CAPITAL’S FUEL MARKET
Katz said the fuel disruption comes alongside deeper economic pressure caused by the war, including high domestic borrowing, steep interest rates and a budget increasingly built around military spending.
“The whole economy is now built on war,” Katz said. “War does not produce anything. Nothing comes back from it. So what remains is a big hole.”
He said Russia is not yet on the verge of collapse, but the strain is “growing and growing,” with economic officials warning that spending may need to be cut as the budget deficit becomes harder to close.
This assessment was also confirmed to Fox News Digital by a European intelligence source, who said the economic pressure is effectively working.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Russian and Ukrainian spokespeople for comment.
Reuters contributed to this story.
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