Russia Reports Petrol Shortages in 12 Regions After Drone Strikes Shut Orsk Refinery and Suspend Novorossiysk Exports

The Orsk refinery, 800 miles from the front, was taken offline for six months after a drone strike this week. Three sources confirmed to Reuters that loadings at Novorossiysk halted on Friday. These outages coincide with documented Ukrainian strikes on Black Sea energy infrastructure that began intensifying in July. Official Russian admissions on 15 August reversed Deputy Prime Minister Novak's 31 July claim that refinery restarts had restored balance.

Primary records show purchase caps reimposed: Sochi limited sales on 11 August; Orenburg capped at 30 litres petrol and 60 litres diesel with odd-even licence rules from 12 August. The 7x7 count documented queues in twelve regions. Moscow stations also reported extended waits, contradicting earlier central assurances.

Ukraine's sustained strikes target export and refining capacity to raise domestic Russian fuel costs and constrain logistics. Russia responds by reallocating rail deliveries and urging external supplies into affected oblasts. Both sides calculate that incremental pressure on energy nodes alters the war's marginal costs without immediate escalation thresholds.

Deliveries from unaffected Siberian refineries are scheduled to reach southern terminals by late August. If strikes continue at current frequency, the next government statement is expected within fourteen days once inventories fall below the levels recorded in early July.