In an article for Interfax-Ukraine, we analyze how the Russian audience’s reaction is changing as the fuel crisis enters a new phase in August.

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After easing somewhat in July, Russia’s fuel crisis is gaining momentum again. While at least 16 regions were reporting problems at the beginning of August, by mid-month the issue had spread to 81 regions. Against the backdrop of hours-long queues at gas stations, Russians are responding skeptically to officials’ promises of a quick stabilization.

This is evidenced by monitoring of regional Telegram channels and VKontakte communities conducted by the NGO Join Ukraine from August 10–16. The organization systematically tracks regional sentiment through 536 VKontakte communities and 428 Telegram channels, covering all Russian regions as well as the occupied territories of Ukraine.

According to the analysts, fuel shortages once again became one of the most widely discussed topics last week, with posts about the fuel crisis generating nearly 11,800 comments. Russian audiences complained about hours-long queues, wasted time, and the inability to refuel their cars properly.

In Smolensk Oblast, queues at gas stations stretched for almost five hours. In Voronezh Oblast, the governor acknowledged that the situation had worsened and said no quick improvement should be expected. In Penza, AI-95 gasoline completely disappeared from some gas stations. And in Ryazan Oblast, local authorities were already talking about a “second wave of fuel shortages.”

In a number of regions, authorities once again introduced an “even/odd” system to limit fuel sales, meaning that the ability to refuel depended on the last digit of a vehicle’s license plate. In Tambov Oblast, this created problems for transit drivers, who could be turned away from gas stations because of the “wrong” number.

A new development in the fuel crisis was the arrival in Russia of its first shipment of gasoline from India. For some members of the Russian audience, this news was not a sign that the problem was being resolved, but rather confirmation of how serious it had become. If the country is forced to import gasoline, the shortage has clearly gone beyond localized disruptions at individual gas stations.

One comment in another regional discussion summed up the situation even more succinctly: “Gasoline keeps getting more expensive even when there is none.”

Another consequence of the prolonged crisis is growing distrust in official statements. Russians recall previous promises by officials that the problem would be resolved “within the next few days.” Since that did not happen, new assurances of a quick stabilization are being met with skepticism.

According to Yuliia Yelenich, an analyst covering Russia at Join Ukraine, this shift in public reaction is one of the most telling consequences of the fuel crisis.

“The gasoline shortage itself is no longer news for Russia — what is becoming news is that it simply does not end. When a problem lasts for weeks, spreads across dozens of regions, and people are repeatedly told that everything will be back to normal any moment now, it is only natural for them to start asking: does the government actually have the situation under control? A five-hour queue at a gas station is far more convincing than any official’s speech. Imports of gasoline from India only reinforce this feeling: for the Russian audience, this is a problem the state cannot resolve quickly,” Yelenich notes.

According to her, the scale of the problem is also significant: when shortages affect 81 regions, it becomes difficult to explain them as isolated disruptions. For the Russian audience, the fuel crisis is no longer an abstract economic problem but a daily reality that directly affects mobility, work, and everyday life.