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The authorities in Russia’s Far Eastern Zabaykalsky Krai have appealed to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and the Ministry of Energy to intervene in the gasoline shortage affecting the region. Zabaykalsky Krai receives fuel mainly from the Achinsk and Angarsk refineries, located in Krasnoyarsk Krai and the Irkutsk Region, which have not been targets of Ukrainian drone strikes. However, as an industry source and an oil and gas market expert told The Insider, a series of attacks on other plants, combined with systemic issues, have disrupted supply to the Russian Far East, causing fuel shortages in areas not directly affected by Ukrainian strikes.
As an oil and gas market expert anonymously told The Insider, the current shortages are the result of the redistribution of fuel, a move necessitated by damage to refineries in the European part of Russia.
“Fuel markets are integrated. If refineries in the European part of Russia are hit by drones, resources are redistributed: fuel is sourced elsewhere, for instance, from the Omsk refinery, which also supplies the Far East. As a result, less fuel remains for the eastern regions.
Local refining meets only 55–60% of gasoline demand and 60–65% of diesel demand in the Far Eastern fuel market, so fuel still has to be brought in from other regions.
Additionally, there is the issue of naphtha, which continues to be exported from the Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk refineries. Naphtha is a semi-finished product that is used to produce gasoline, and it could be redirected to the domestic market if additional equipment were installed. But this has yet to be done.”
An industry source, in comments to The Insider, also cited a pre-existing imbalance and clarified that systemic issues are at play.
“The Achinsk and Angarsk refineries were not affected by attacks, but the system as a whole has been destabilized. When capacities are lost in one region, flows are redistributed, with fuel from other plants directed to areas with the greatest shortages. This does not mean that the center of the country is prioritized over the East. Rather, what we see is manual management under unstable conditions.
Shortages are a permanent feature of the Far Eastern infrastructure, with fuel production volumes traditionally lower than demand. Refineries in Eastern Siberia — including Achinsk and Angarsk — cannot meet all demand, so the region traditionally relies on fuel supplies from other parts of the country. Even minor unplanned shutdowns or shipment delays immediately disrupt the balance. Nationwide, there is only about a 10% surplus of gasoline, which is very small. Any disruption instantly triggers a shortage.
The Far Eastern regions have no dominant networks of major oil companies. The market is mostly served by independent gas stations, making it less resilient, as it is harder for them to maintain prices and ensure supply during disruptions. During the crisis, independent networks were supplied on a residual basis. Oil companies had fuel, but only for their own stations. Independent players sometimes could not purchase gasoline at a reasonable price or had to wait for shipments of already paid-for batches.”
The industry source believes that the acute phase of the crisis has already passed and that the situation will stabilize by the end of November. According to him, the fuel market is gradually balancing out — but for the Russian Far East, this process is delayed due to long and costly logistics.
The Insider’s analysis has shown that, since summer 2025, Ukrainian drones, as part of the DeepStrike strategy, have regularly targeted Russian refineries located 500 kilometers or more from the border. Damage to key capacities has led to a loss of up to 17% of refining output, which is already affecting the stability of fuel supplies within the country.