Fuel deficit in Crimea and part of Kherson Oblast hitting Russian air defenses – Atesh

Agents of the movement said the Russian command has introduced strict limits on refueling mobile fire groups and air defense assets used to protect positions from drones.

“Fuel is handed out by the teaspoon,” one Atesh agent serving in an air defense unit near Chonhar said. “You can start the vehicle only if it’s a combat mission. The rest of the time the equipment stands still. If the fuel runs out on the road, you just abandon it and run to the nearest trench or village to wait out the drones.”

According to the group, the fuel shortage has been recorded in several Russian units. In Crimea, it affects the 1096th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment of the 22nd Army Corps and mobile fire groups on the R-280 highway near Chonhar. In Kherson Oblast, the shortage affects air defense and drone units of the 49th Combined Arms Army.

Atesh said crews are often sent out with almost no fuel reserve. If fuel runs out on the road, Russian troops abandon the equipment and continue on foot.

“Such cases have been recorded on the rear route between Henichesk and Skadovsk,” the group said. “Abandoned equipment remains in the open until it is spotted by a Ukrainian drone. The occupation command is not publicizing the scale of the problem, but disruptions even in basic refueling show the real state of supply in the Russian army.”

Fuel crisis in Russia

On June 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly acknowledged for the first time that Russia was facing gasoline problems after Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries.

On June 23, Reuters reported that attacks by Ukraine’s Defense Forces had caused an acute shortage and a 25% collapse in Russia’s domestic gasoline production.

On July 8, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia had imposed a full ban on diesel exports.

Also in July, Russia is expected to begin importing petroleum products for the first time. On July 1, The Moscow Times reported that Kazakhstan was preparing to supply AI-92 and AI-95 gasoline to Russia as humanitarian aid in July and August. In addition, according to Reuters sources, Russia has begun importing gasoline by sea from India.