Ukraine drone strikes oil infrastructure have pushed Russia into buying 200,000 barrels of gasoline from Turkey this week, with the fuel moving from Mersin to Primorsk on the sanctioned tanker Wendrix. The shipment is the fifth confirmed seaborne delivery of vehicle fuel this summer, after refinery damage and rationing at filling stations tightened the market.
Russia’s response now reaches beyond one supply line. This week, Russia also signed a deal with the Kondensat oil refinery in western Kazakhstan to process Russian crude outside the country, with 70% of the refined fuel sent back to Russia and oil delivered by rail because the refinery is not connected to a Russian pipeline.
Turkey shipment to Primorsk
The gasoline cargo from Turkey shows how quickly Russia has moved from domestic strain to emergency imports. The shipment from Mersin to Primorsk adds to previous seaborne deliveries that came via Egypt from a refinery at Vadinar in India, bringing the total to 1m barrels this summer.
Alexander Novak, Russia’s deputy prime minister, said Russia’s energy situation was “constantly changing” and said some refineries were back in operation. He also said in July that Russia would begin importing oil products to help stabilise the domestic market. That shift matters because the market is not being rebuilt from a single source; Russia is drawing on ships, rail and foreign processing at the same time.
Kondensat oil refinery deal
The deal with the Kondensat oil refinery in western Kazakhstan creates a different workaround. Russia is not just buying finished gasoline; Russia is also sending crude abroad to be processed and then taking most of the output back. Because the refinery is not connected to a Russian pipeline, the crude has to move by rail, adding another constraint to an already strained supply chain.
Fuel pressure inside Russia has widened. At least six Russian regions reinstated or tightened restrictions on gasoline sales in August, and Russia’s fuel imports from Belarus in June increased by a factor of 141 compared with June last year. Those numbers sit alongside a deeper supply hit: Russian refinery output had already dropped by 28% before Ukraine stepped up its campaign against refinery sites.
August refinery shutdowns
The August strikes sharpened the problem. Ukraine carried out 18 attacks on Russian refineries in August, matching the previous month’s record, and a new wave of strikes completely shut down the Orsk refinery. Kremlin officials had hoped earlier in the summer that Russia was turning a corner in its fuel crisis, but August brought a new intensification of strikes and restrictions.
Mick Ryan wrote in June that Ukraine would only increase its efforts, and Russia’s import scramble now matches that warning. The practical question is whether the new inflows from Turkey, Belarus, Kazakhstan and earlier shipments routed via Egypt and India can keep Russian filling stations supplied while damaged refineries restart; Russia’s own officials are still describing a market that is moving day by day.
