According to the publication, at a Rosneft gas station in Saratov, gasoline is dispensed primarily to special transport — rescue vehicles, ambulances, police cruisers, and civil servants' cars.
Local journalists also reported seeing vehicles belonging to district administration representatives, public service center workers, and Russian Post employees at the gas station. One customer, according to eyewitnesses, gave the password "Government" and was granted access to fuel after that.
Furthermore, at certain gas stations in Volgograd, gasoline is sold exclusively to holders of special fuel cards used by government authorities, hospitals, and law enforcement agencies.
In Krasnodar, state employees are refueled upon presenting their official IDs, and at a gas station on the highway between Chelyabinsk and Yekaterinburg, emergency and official vehicles are serviced with top priority.
Fuel crisis in Russia
According to the Russian propaganda outlet RBC, as of June 29, official restrictions on fuel sales have been established in more than 40 Russian oblasts, as well as in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. At the same time, complaints about supply disruptions have been reported from 85 federal subjects.
On June 28, dictator Vladimir Putin admitted for the first time that Russia was experiencing gasoline problems following Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries. He claimed that the ban on gasoline exports was introduced "in the interests of domestic consumers."
As noted by Reuters, Ukrainian Defense Forces' attacks have led to a severe deficit and a 25% collapse in domestic gasoline production in Russia.
On June 1, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that since the beginning of the year, Ukrainian attacks have hit 15 Russian oil refineries, resulting in nearly 40% of Russia's primary oil refining capacity being knocked offline as of May.