00:00Moscow hit by fuel shortages. As Ukraine's refinery campaign reaches the capital Russia's
00:05nationwide fuel crisis, driven by a sustained Ukrainian long-range drone campaign against
00:11oil refineries, has intensified again in August 2026, with shortages now visibly affecting Moscow
00:17itself, not just outlying regions. Scale of the shortage. According to Reuters, gasoline was
00:24unavailable at some fuel stations in the Moscow region as of Monday, August 17, though diesel
00:28remained mostly available. Authorities in at least 10 regions have retightened fuel sales
00:33restrictions this month. Some Moscow-area chains, including Lukoil and Gazprom-operated stations,
00:39have capped purchases at 60 to 150 liters per driver, largely to curb panic buying and hoarding.
00:46Wholesale gasoline prices posted their sharpest weekly rise since July 2025. CNN's analysis found
00:54nearly all of Russia's 83 regions have experienced shortages or supply disruptions at some point this
01:00year. The crisis, which built through spring and summer, has been worsened by the seasonal high
01:05demand period that typically runs through September. Why it's happening. Since mid-2025, Ukraine has run
01:13an escalating drone campaign against Russian oil infrastructure, described by President Volodymyr
01:18Zelensky as long-range sanctions. At least 21 of Russia's 38 major refineries have been hit since
01:25January 2025, including strikes reaching as far as the Omsk refinery in Siberia, roughly 2,500 kilometers
01:32from Ukrainian territory. The Kapatnya refinery, the largest fuel supplier to the Moscow region,
01:38was struck twice this year and, according to unnamed officials cited by Reuters, may stay offline into
01:442027. Ukraine has shown no sign of halting the campaign. Its stated aim is to degrade Russia's
01:51warfighting and export capacity. Putin's changed public movements. Multiple outlets, including the
01:58New York Times, Kiev Post, and independent Russian and Belarusian media, report that Vladimir Putin has
02:04significantly altered his travel patterns and security posture as drone strikes have intensified,
02:09including in areas near Moscow and along his usual routes to Sochi. Reported measures include use of
02:15a secret armored train, decoy motorcades, near-identical, cloned offices in different locations to obscure
02:21broadcasts, and a security zone with air defense systems around his Sochi residence, which he has
02:26largely stopped visiting. He has reportedly spent more time in Siberia and the Russian Far East in 2026,
02:34including a trip to Novosibirsk, though the Kremlin has continued presenting some closed-door
02:39meetings with a Moscow dateline. It's worth being clear that Putin's exact day-to-day location
02:45isn't independently verifiable. This is based on investigative reporting piecing together travel
02:50patterns, broadcast inconsistencies, and security measure changes, not a confirmed real-time location.
02:57A note on precision. I've left out the original commentary's specific fuel price figure and exact
03:03refinery counts by region where I couldn't independently confirm them. The broader picture,
03:09a real, worsening, drone-driven fuel crisis reaching Moscow, is well-documented, but some granular
03:17local details and on-the-ground social media posts aren't verifiable from here.
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