Putin admits that strikes in Ukraine are causing fuel shortages across Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly acknowledged that Ukraine’s long-distance strikes are causing fuel supply problems inside Russia, as footage obtained by Fox News Digital shows long lines, angry drivers and clashes at gas stations in several Russian regions.

Speaking at a meeting with government ministers and other officials after a wave of attacks on Ukraine’s oil infrastructure, Putin said on Sunday that strikes on “critical infrastructure” and power plants were causing “problems,” including shortages affecting motorists, businesses and agricultural producers, but said Russia was dealing with them, according to Reuters.

The remarks marked a rare acknowledgment from the Kremlin that Ukraine’s long-range campaign has implications beyond the battlefield.

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In Ukraine, the fuel crisis is proof that its long-range strike campaign is doing more than damaging individual institutions. The attack is forcing Moscow to manage visible problems at home, posing a threat to a world power that has long held sway in its energy sector.

Shortages have spread across Russia, including occupied Crimea, southern Russia, Siberia and Moscow. Moscow is also weighing emergency measures, including temporarily allowing the production and import of low-quality fuel, according to a government source reported by Kommersant daily.

Maxim Katz, a Russian dissident and former deputy mayor of Moscow, told Fox News Digital that the fuel shortage is real and increasingly difficult for Russians to ignore.

“There are fuel problems in Russia right now — real ones,” Katz told Fox News Digital. “I get a lot of reports, and I see it again: It’s difficult. You can’t get gas, or you have to stand in line. In some cities, you have to spend half a day looking for gas, then they give you less, and you have to go back to the line again.”

Battles are breaking out at filling station lines across Russia after strikes in Ukraine have caused chronic fuel shortages. (East2West)

Katz said the shortage appears to be directly linked to Ukraine’s attack on Russian refining capacity.

“They bombed with great success,” he said. “Putin has no way to protect them. Right now, it looks like there is no way to protect them, and that’s a lot of pressure on Putin.”

Videos obtained by Fox News Digital from the east2west Russian news outlet show scenes of frustration at Russian filling stations, where drivers can be seen waiting in long lines and arguing as shortages bite. In one video, two women can be seen arguing over a place in line, with one insisting, “I was in line,” before the argument escalated into shouting and threats.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on domestic fuel supply in Moscow, Russia, June 28, 2026. (Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via Reuters)

In Serov, Russia, police were called after a male driver was seen insulting several women before punching one of them, according to the video.

In Ryazan, Russia, a video shows a fight breaking out near a stadium where drivers are waiting for fuel. In Irkutsk, Russia, a man is seen leaning on the open window of a hatchback and hitting another driver repeatedly.

One woman, identified as Tanya, 29, told East2west she waited 13 hours in Siberia for half a tank of fuel and blamed Putin’s war for the chaos.

“He should stop this senseless argument and let us live in a normal way,” he said.

Ukraine is increasingly using long-range drones to target Russian oil refineries, depots and supply routes hundreds of miles from its border. Ukraine struck two Russian oil facilities overnight, Reuters reported on Sunday, including one in Krasnodar, Russia, and another in Yaroslavl, Russia, as Kyiv continues to target Moscow’s war-related infrastructure.

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Moscow’s Kapotnya oil refinery burns after being hit by a Ukrainian jet on June 18, 2026, in the Russian capital. (East2West)

Katz said the fuel disruptions come with deeper economic pressures caused by the war, including high domestic borrowing, rising interest rates and a budget that is increasingly being built around military spending.

“Every economy now is built on war,” Katz said. “War gives nothing away. There is no return from it. So what remains is a big hole.”

He said Russia was not yet in danger of collapse, but the crisis was “growing and growing,” with economic officials warning that spending may have to be cut as the budget deficit becomes harder to cover.

This assessment was also confirmed to Fox News Digital by a European intelligence source, who said that economic pressure is working effectively.

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Cars line up for fuel at a gas station after authorities imposed restrictions on fuel sales amid shortages following Ukrainian attacks on transport routes amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Sevastopol, Crimea on June 1, 2026. (Reuters)

Fox News Digital has reached out to Russian and Ukrainian spokespeople for comment.

Reuters contributed to this story.