Russia is one of the world’s energy giants. The country sits on colossal reserves of oil and gas, and was ranked along with Saudi Arabia as one of the world’s largest exporters before the war in Ukraine. But thanks to Ukrainian military operations, the country has actually begun to run out of petrol. It is extraordinary to think that a country sitting on billions of barrels of oil cannot get energy to its people. The Kremlin admitted this week that these shortages were biting and blamed Ukraine.
Ukraine understands that the energy industry is Russia’s cash cow. Destroy it, and Russia has little else the world wishes to buy, and without this trade, the Kremlin’s war coffers will run dry very quickly. For months, Ukrainian drones have pulverised oil depots, refineries, and pipelines across Russia. In the last two years, successful attacks have leapt 48% in number as Kyiv refines (no pun intended) its ability to hit Russian energy infrastructure. Ukraine has managed to strike deeper into Russia than ever before, and even regions hundreds of miles from the frontline are now in Kyiv’s bullseye. And now, the domestic supply of Russia has begun to hit critical lows.
Ukraine’s deep strikes have drawn blood, with regions that had previously had uninterrupted supply now being bitten, including Moscow. Social media footage has shown Russians lining up for fuel at petrol stations. The supply is low, the cost is high, and temperatures are running high too. Reports of customers accusing others of cutting in line have led to brawls on petrol station forecourts. One report stated that “People are ready to fight each other with knives” over the dwindling supply, which in some regions, has become exceptionally low.
Until recently, Russia’s state-controlled and state-regulated media did what it always does: lie. The media continued to portray life as being unaffected by fuel shortages. In Soviet times, the two main newspapers were Pravda (“Truth”) and Izvestia (“News”). The gallows humour of the era said that the only reliable thing about current affairs reporting in Russia was that “There is no news in truth, and no truth in news”. On the issue of fuel shortages due to Ukrainian action, the Russian press continued to repeat in rote fashion that everything was fine. Until this week.
But recently, the cracks have finally shown. Just days ago, Vladimir Putin finally acknowledged that there was an issue with fuel shortages. In a stage-managed statement, flanked by military advisors, Putin conceded that “problems persist for both drivers and businesses and queues at petrol stations, unfortunately, also remain”. Putin also admitted that Ukrainian action was to blame, which he ludicrously labelled as “terrorist attacks”. The Russian leader closed the statement with a promise that a “task force” had been set up to examine the situation and attempt to rectify it.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine was meant to flex Russia’s muscles and prove it was still a major power. John McCain once dismissed Russia as a paper tiger, and it was “…a gas station masquerading as a country.” If Ukraine continues its military action, and the shortages continue, Russia may not even be a gas station anymore.
