In The Fuel Crisis Gripping Russia's Hinterlands, Worries For Tractors, Winter Hay, And Cows

This article was originally published in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Read the original article. 

One villager worried he wouldn’t be able to cut firewood in time for winter because his chainsaw was out of gas. Another said he couldn’t cut hay for winter feed for his cows due to a lack of fuel for his tractor.

And the village fishermen can’t trawl rivers for fish because of a ban on filling the jerry cans needed for their boats’ outboard engines.

Nearly two months into a sweeping Ukrainian long-range drone campaign that has knocked out a serious chunk of Russia’s gasoline refining capacity, the growing nationwide fuel crisis is tightening its grip on big cities across the country.

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But perhaps harder hit are impoverished villages in the vast hinterlands, where locals frequently scrape by living off the land, traveling distances for remote work, while trying to store up reserves of fuel for emergencies -- as well as food and fuel for the long winter.

Nearly every major refinery in western Russia has been hit by Ukrainian drones, according to the International Energy Agency. Many refineries have been hit multiple times. In total, experts estimate between 20 and 40 percent of the country’s total refining capacity has been knocked offline.

Nearly every region of Russia -- even in distant Kamchatka on the Pacific Coast -- has felt the effects of the Ukrainian campaign.

Some regions have imposed daily restrictions on fueling vehicles; some have tried to block hoarding or profiteering by prohibiting filling up portable fuel cans; some have instituted a coupon-system, similar to what Soviet authorities did when faced with food shortages.

'What Are We Supposed To Do Without A Generator?'

The result in many places has been lengthy waits and snaking lines for drivers, not to mention fraying tempers and frustrations.

Novgorod, a northern region located just to the south of Russia’s second largest city, St. Petersburg, is no exception.

On VK, Russia’s largest social media network, locals have taken to posting complaints on the page managed by the regional governor, saying prohibitions on fueling jerry cans -- portable metal gas containers -- hurts villages far away from fueling stations and municipal centers.

"We live in a village with no grocery store, no pharmacy, no transportation to the amenities of civilization. Our whole lives, once a week, we've driven to a fueling station 30 kilometers away to fill up our tanks and cans, or maybe even a couple extra (for the generator) just in case of a power outage,” one woman who wrote under the name Irina Tryaskina wrote.

“What are we supposed to do without a generator? Cook over a fire and store food in the cellar?

"How am I supposed to fill up my tractor out in the fields?” another person who gave their name as Aleksandr Vasilyev wrote. “Am I supposed to drive it several kilometers to fill it up? And if I can’t gas up my tractor, then accordingly I -- or more precisely my cows -- won't have any food for the winter.”

Another woman named Alena, whose name RFE/RL changed to prevent potential prosecution, said it takes around 10 liters of gasoline to drive from her village to the district administrative center of Lyubytino and back.

“It’s laughable,” she told RFE/RL. “And what are you left with? And what if there’s no gas there the next time you drive? You just leave your car there?”

On top of the car, there are small gas-powered tools for running her household: the rototiller, the chainsaw, the generator, the tractor, she said: “And the electricity keeps going out, so without refrigeration in the summer, it's a disaster.”

Once she said she complained to the local municipal office: the official said it was her own fault for moving to the country and that she should’ve stayed in town.

'We're Not Moscow Or St. Petersburg'

Aleksandr, who lives about a 30-minute drive of Lyubytino, in the village of Komarovo, said there’s a rule of thumb for villagers: always keep at least four jerry cans of gasoline in reserve.

"We're not Moscow or St. Petersburg,” he said. “Right now, we're collecting firewood, clearing roads of debris, and haying. And everyone relies on a generator when the power goes out.”

In Dubrovka, southwest of Komarovo, on the Msta River, a man who gave his name as Matvei said the fuel shortages were making it hard to mow the 15 hectares of land he owns.

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He said he brings gasoline back from St. Petersburg, where he has a job, to fuel the tractor, and also brings gas back for other villagers as needed.

Irina, a woman from Novinka an hour’s drive north of Lyubytino, said storms routinely knock out electricity supplies, so locals rely on gas-powered generators.

“We have no proper phone lines here. No electricity. Roads are horrible. Health care is a disaster. It's impossible to get to stores,” she told RFE/RL. “And now they're even taking away our ability to drive to the district center. I won't even mention motorboats. Are we really supposed to take our boats and motorboats to the gas station? Fishermen always brought gasoline in jerry cans, but no one's thinking about them now."

Despite open awareness of the Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries and other infrastructure, few villagers connect the rippling shortages affecting village life to the Ukrainian campaign – nor to the bigger Russian all-out war, well into its fifth year with no sign of abating.

Anna, a woman from the village of Ivanteyevsky who asked that her surname not be used, did tie the shortages to Ukraine conflict

"We are in fact at war," she said, adding that her nephew was at the front, as were the husbands of two friends.

She also said a friend’s husband works in a Leningrad region oil refinery. And she has relatives in the Belgorod region, a region bordering Ukraine that has been battered by Ukrainian attacks and where thousands have evacuated.

“They say it's very difficult to protect these kinds of facilities. All my relatives are in the Belgorod region, and I understand perfectly well that compared to them, our district is paradise," she said.

Copyright (c)2025 RFE/RL, Inc. Used with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty  

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