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Translation:

The fuel crisis caused by Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries has reached the front.

Russian soldiers told Verstka they are now facing fuel shortages. They are having trouble fueling their personal vehicles and generators, often having to buy gasoline out of their own pockets at inflated prices caused by the crisis. Some troops also complain that fuel limits have been introduced even for military vehicles.

The further it goes, the worse it gets

"Yeah, the gasoline situation is a complete mess," said a serviceman named Nikita. "Everyone is getting too little. There's a catastrophic shortage of fuel."

Whereas units previously received as much fuel as they needed to complete their missions, they are now limited to no more than 20 liters per vehicle per day, he said. Army-issued fuel is only provided for vehicles with military license plates that are carrying out combat missions.

Several other soldiers interviewed by Verstka also reported reduced fuel deliveries. A mobilized soldier named Pyotr estimated the reduction at around 30%. According to him, the cuts affect both combat vehicles and the trucks transporting ammunition and food.

Mikhail, serving on the Zaporizhzhia front, described even more severe consequences. Whereas his position previously received about 20 liters of gasoline, they now get "sometimes 15, sometimes just 10 damn liters." As a result, he and his comrades have to walk 11 kilometers to collect supplies, whether food, fuel, or water. He said he does not understand how they are supposed to keep fighting under such conditions.

"The further it goes, the worse it gets."

Another serviceman, Oleh, also reported interruptions in fuel deliveries.

"Sometimes they can't bring it, sometimes they've run out, sometimes it takes a long time for new supplies to arrive."

He noted, however, that he is not personally responsible for refueling equipment.

Only three of the ten soldiers interviewed said they had not experienced problems with official fuel supplies. A serviceman named Andriy said the fuel situation at the front was "normal."

"We get as much as we request... The guys stationed nearby say everything's fine too."

Another soldier, Maksym, described the situation as stable. His two-man team receives 20 liters of gasoline every two days, which he said is enough for both motorcycles and generators. Only occasionally do they have to buy fuel themselves. His main complaint was the quality of the fuel supplied by the Defense Ministry.

"It's kind of yellow, not as clean as what you get at a gas station."

Another serviceman, Ivan, said fuel for military equipment is still available.

"There's enough. But only for military vehicles. You can't get any for your own."

According to him, soldiers lend fuel to one another and also sell it to local residents for 350 rubles per liter or more. He added that, according to fellow servicemen, fuel used to be stolen "by the ton," but that has become less common because military vehicles are now being used less frequently.

"Everything is fucked"

Nearly all the soldiers who spoke to Verstka said that, with or without restrictions, the Defense Ministry only supplies fuel for military vehicles. Personal cars, generators, chainsaws, and other equipment often have to be fueled at their own expense. According to Nikita, this was already the case before, but rising gasoline prices have made the situation worse.

"Everything is fucked," said serviceman Yaroslav. According to him, they still have some fuel in reserve, but it's no longer possible to buy more, while local residents are selling it for five to six times the normal price. Where contract soldier Vasyl serves, the price is somewhat lower, at 200 rubles per liter. But to find enough gasoline, they have to drive all the way to Rostov-on-Don or wait for comrades returning from leave with jerry cans, he added.

Contract soldier Oleksii, who serves near the Kursk region border, expects the rising fuel prices to take a heavy toll on his family budget because he needs gasoline very frequently. His unit relies on its generator not only for electricity but also for water.

"I used to spend 50,000 rubles a month on gasoline. Now they say it'll be 70,000," Oleksii said. He estimates that, from his monthly salary of 350,000 rubles, he will soon be able to send home only 60%, down from the current 70%.

"We buy everything ourselves. Generators break down quickly. Then there are cigarettes, sweets, and I even pay for deliveries of our allotted food and water with gasoline," he added.

As mobilized soldier Pyotr explained to Verstka, it is theoretically possible to receive fuel for a generator or other equipment, but only if it is officially registered on the regiment's inventory. However, in that case, the equipment can be taken away and reassigned elsewhere if deemed necessary. That is one reason soldiers buy fuel themselves. Where Pyotr serves, gasoline costs up to 300 rubles per liter, but even paying that price does not guarantee quality.

"My generator started misfiring," he complained.

"They're in a complete bind when it comes to gasoline"

Problems with fuel supplies have already been reported by pro-war Telegram channels and volunteers raising money to support Russian troops.

"We're not going to speculate about the direction the state has taken or why the special military operation is being fought while the front sometimes lacks something as basic as gasoline. We're not looking for anyone to blame. We simply help. Because, despite everything, we will win this war," wrote pro-war volunteer Anastasia Komarova on July 19 in the Telegram channel We Don't Abandon Our Own. She later reported delivering 270 liters of gasoline for motorcycles to the 119th Regiment on the Kherson front.

Komarova attached a video showing male volunteers loading a van with numerous jerry cans.

"It brings me to tears and fills me with anger that the fundraising for this fuel included money from the soldiers themselves, just so they could carry out combat missions," she wrote.

On July 7, the pro-war Telegram channel Yenot Kherson said it had used part of a fundraising campaign originally intended to buy a vehicle to instead purchase one ton of gasoline "for our warriors."

"Unfortunately, this is the reality now. We have to supply our fighters with fuel," the channel wrote.

"We're in touch with the guys. They're in a complete bind when it comes to gasoline," wrote a volunteer channel from Sergiyev Posad on July 11. "If anyone can and is willing to donate a jerry can of gasoline, we'd be grateful. We'll return the canisters. The guys have somewhere to transfer the fuel."

Even the We Are Together movement, launched by the Russian authorities in 2020, ended up supplying fuel to the military. On July 3, its volunteers reported sending about 700 liters of gasoline to the front from the Volgograd branch.

Volunteer priest Pavel Kurganov from Penza wrote on VKontakte on July 15 that "problems with gasoline have affected not only us but also our fighters on the front line." He added that diesel was "a bit easier to get" and asked followers to help fund a diesel generator.

On July 8, the Telegram channel of the civic organization Anapa Civil launched a humanitarian aid drive for the military. Among the requested items was "gasoline/diesel if possible."

Military units have also begun posting thank-you messages for fuel deliveries. On July 7, the volunteer Telegram channel Kalashmat of the Noisy Detachment published a video from the 1st Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade. In it, a volunteer showed the trunk of his car loaded with supplies and listed what they were bringing.

"We packed some cat food, potatoes, blankets, sweets, juice, a turret for the guys, and, of course, gasoline."

The fuel crisis has also affected the volunteers delivering humanitarian aid to the "special military operation," as Verstka previously reported. The Reliable Rear organization from the Komi Republic said it no longer knew when it would be able to make its next humanitarian trip. It added that the fuel situation had "reached the breaking point" and that the trip required gasoline in jerry cans, prompting a new fundraising campaign.

Representatives of the Krasnodar charity Dobrotvortsy said delivering supplies to the front had become more difficult, citing fuel shortages along all major roads in the "special military operation" zone. Tatyana Timokhina, a member of the Novokuybyshevsk Public Chamber and director of the At the Call of Our Hearts charity foundation, apologized to soldiers for delays in a humanitarian convoy after gas stations refused to fill jerry cans. The volunteer group Lights of Sevastopol said volunteer vehicle trips to the front had fallen to "almost zero" because of the difficult situation and gasoline shortages.

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