Russia’s fuel shortage intensified in mid-August, with the share of stations reporting available gasoline or diesel falling from 41% on Aug. 9 to 28.1% on Aug. 16, according to GdeBENZ, a real-time website where drivers report station conditions. Some stations have run dry, while others face queues and sales restrictions, particularly in the southern Volga and some central regions. Orenburg and Lipetsk reinstated license-plate-based purchasing schedules, with Lipetsk limiting sales to 30 liters per vehicle. In Anapa, 11 of 25 operating stations sold only to fuel-card holders and special-service vehicles, while Novorossiysk reported limited availability of AI-92 and AI-95 gasoline. Sevastopol reinstated QR-code controls and a 20-liter limit, and the Altai republic continued to restrict refueling to once daily. Moscow also saw outages and queues. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), Russia’s competition regulator, opened 41 probes and issued 68 warnings. Refinery shutdowns, Ukrainian drone strikes on energy infrastructure, higher summer demand and regional logistics problems have contributed to the disruption. Reports by @ynetnews described the strikes on Russian oil facilities as intensifying pressure on domestic fuel supplies and logistics. Russia extended a temporary gasoline export ban until Jan. 31, 2027, expanded imports and authorized the temporary sale of lower-standard Euro-2, Euro-3 and Euro-4 fuel while redirecting supplies to the domestic market. Prediction-market pricing has been cited as suggesting that the strikes may also be increasing perceptions of possible Ukrainian advances, including toward Crimea, although that outcome remains uncertain.