President Vladimir Putin publicly acknowledged on Sunday that repeated Ukrainian drone strikes on oil infrastructure have caused fuel shortages across Russia, with queues forming at petrol stations and supplies of certain grades of petrol unavailable. Speaking at a televised meeting with senior officials and oil industry executives, Putin said the government had created a round-the-clock task force to stabilise the domestic market and was considering a full ban on diesel exports. The Kremlin also confirmed that gasoline reserves, currently standing at 1.7 million tonnes, were being released and that maintenance shutdowns at major refineries had been shortened to boost output, with production in July expected to exceed June levels.

Kyiv claimed responsibility for overnight strikes on two refineries: the Slavyansk facility in the Krasnodar region, roughly 300 kilometres from the front line, and a plant in the Yaroslavl region, approximately 700 kilometres from Ukraine’s border. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the operations as part of a campaign to “weaken Russia’s ability to wage this war”, stating that each strike reduces the resources fuelling Moscow’s war machine. Regional authorities in Krasnodar reported one person killed and a major fire at the Slavyansk refinery, which processes close to four million tonnes of crude annually and is a key supplier of fuel to occupied Crimea and for Black Sea exports.

Viewed from Western capitals, the intensification of Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign is placing measurable strain on Russian logistics and domestic stability. Analysts in London note that at least seventeen Russian regions have imposed mandatory restrictions on petrol and diesel sales, while authorities in annexed Crimea declared an emergency on Friday after attacks on supply chains triggered power cuts and forced a halt to fuel sales to private individuals. The strikes have also disrupted military logistics, according to Western military assessments, slowing Moscow’s battlefield momentum and increasing pressure on the Kremlin to engage in negotiations.

Putin linked the attacks to the diplomatic track, stating that Moscow would not allow Kyiv to “impose its own terms of negotiation” and that Ukraine would “pay for its crimes” with territorial losses. In a separate interview, he said he expected US negotiators to travel to Moscow once Washington was less preoccupied with the Iran file, signalling that the Kremlin remains open to talks. The diplomatic process, however, remains stalled, with the last known high-level contacts occurring before the G7 summit in France, where President Donald Trump urged Russia to “make a deal with Ukraine”. The fuel crisis and the expanding reach of Ukrainian strikes are now shaping the backdrop against which any future negotiations would take place.