Vladimir Putin acknowledged "queues at gas stations" and that "the right grade of gasoline isn't always available" at a Kremlin meeting on domestic fuel supply on 28 June1. It was the first time he, rather than Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, had publicly owned the shortage. Five days earlier Novak had assured him fuel was "challenging but under control" as fifteen Russian regions rationed petrol.
Russia has extended its gasoline export ban to 31 July and is weighing a diesel export ban it keeps declining to impose, the Energy Ministry pointing to a failed 2023 attempt2. Putin taking the file off Novak signals the reassurances had stopped landing, and his next appearance on fuel will show whether he hands it back.
Russia supplies roughly 11% of the world's diesel exports, so a sustained refining shutdown reaches a global fuel market well beyond its own petrol queues. A diesel export ban, still under consideration after the 28 June admission, would lift pump and freight prices outside the war zone. The shortage behind Putin's admission is a product of Ukraine's long-range drone campaign against Russian refineries.
