Fuel Queues Form Around Moscow as Russia's War Economy Strains

Long lines of vehicles formed at Rosneft filling stations around Moscow, with the business channel Bankrollo publishing video of large queues on the MKAD ring road near the Shchyolkovo highway. The scene is consistent with the fuel shortages and rationing that have appeared in parts of Russia as the war's pressure on refining capacity builds.

The strain reflects a two-sided energy war. The independent outlet Ostorozhno Novosti reported that one person was killed and 11 injured in a strike on an industrial enterprise in the Volgograd region, with rescuers still searching for a worker. Ukraine has sustained a campaign against Russian refineries and fuel logistics, and Russia in turn says it is striking Ukrainian energy and transport targets. The Russian Defense Ministry, cited by Kommersant, said its forces hit fuel-energy and transport infrastructure used by Ukraine's military over the previous day.

For an economy organized around the war, the queues matter beyond inconvenience. When domestic fuel supply tightens while the state directs resources toward the front, price controls and rationing distort the market and reveal the limits of a growth model built on wartime demand.