Russia imports a record amount of gasoline due to the bombings in Ukraine

June imports represent uTotal n 2.4 times greater than the volume imported last May. Last year, in June 2025, Russian gasoline imports amounted to just 1,000 tons. According to the Russian newspaper, Belarus thus diverted its fuel exports destined for Central Asian countries to Russia to help the Kremlin, its main ally.

The cited experts explained to Védomosti that the import is expected to alleviate the situation on the Russian market, although they clarified that it clearly will not completely cover the country’s gasoline shortage caused by constant Ukrainian attacks on oil and logistics infrastructure.

Russian authorities continue to deny that the shortage crisis is due to kyiv’s offensive and attribute it to a sharp increase in demand. However, just this week, the Kremlin admitted that it was negotiating the import of fuel from third countries. Later, the foreign press published that They had reached an agreement to import gasoline from India.

Days ago, the Ministry of Energy of Kyrgyzstan requested help from Belarus and neighboring countries for fuel supplies. It is estimated that 90% of the gasoline consumed by the Central Asian republic comes from Russia.

The latest of the Ukrainian drone bombings of Russian energy infrastructure occurred on Saturday, when drones launched by kyiv hit an oil terminal in St. Petersburg, Russian authorities reported, while kyiv continues the bombing of Russia’s oil infrastructure.

In addition to creating a fuel crisis, near-daily long-range attacks on Russian oil facilities have increased political pressure on the Kremlin as the all-out invasion of Ukraine stretches into its fifth year.

Governor Alexander Beglov indicated that the Kirovsky district of the city of St. Petersburg, on the Baltic Sea, was hit. He added that anti-aircraft defenses shot down 72 Ukrainian drones over Russia’s second-largest city and the surrounding region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as part of the Ukraine’s “far-reaching sanctions” against Russia.

The Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, has also suffered especially from heavy attacks, which led local authorities to suspend the sale of gasoline to civilians. A Ukrainian attack on Saturday killed one person and wounded two others, including a 10-year-old boy, Moscow-installed Governor Sergei Aksyonov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has downplayed Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities as “non-critical” and insisted the war will continue until its objectives are met. It has described Ukraine’s offensive as an attempt to divert attention from its battlefield losses, although analysts say the advance of Russian forces has been slowed in recent months.