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Russia is set to receive a shipment of fuel from India, as Moscow is forced to import petrol after Ukrainian drone attacks destroyed parts of its major refineries.
The shipment underlines the severity of Russia’s fuel shortages after the strikes cut domestic refining capacity by about 40 per cent, prompting one of the world’s largest petrostates to seek relief from abroad.
A tanker carrying 42,000 tonnes of petrol which originated in India’s Vadinar refinery is due to reach Beloye More, an oil terminal in northern Russia, on Sunday, according to data from analytics company Kpler.
Regions across Russia introduced some form of restriction on petrol sales per person this month, after Kyiv’s strikes triggered the worst fuel crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union. People have had to queue for hours or days to secure fuel in some areas, with the crisis affecting around 50mn Russians, according to an FT estimate.
Moscow officially announced a plan to import fuel in late June, as long queues began forming at petrol stations across the country.
The fuel cargo from the Vadinar refinery was first loaded on to a vessel called Agni at Vadinar on June 18, Kpler data showed.
The tanker transferred its entire cargo to the Garnet at Damietta Light, off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, on July 6, the data showed. As of July 22, the Garnet was sailing north along the Norwegian coast.
Vadinar is owned by India’s Nayara Energy, in which Russia’s state-controlled Rosneft holds a 49 per cent stake. According to Kpler data, more than 90 per cent of the crude processed at Vadinar in 2026 has come from Russia, adding to the irony of refined Russian crude flowing back from the country that has become its main seaborne importer since 2022.
Nayara said it “has neither sold nor has any plans to sell fuel to Russian companies”, and that it “remains committed to serving the Indian market and meeting the demand for fuels across the length and breadth of India”.
Reuters reported in early July that at least 60,000 tonnes of petrol had been dispatched from India to Russia, equivalent to about 60 per cent of the country’s daily consumption.
The shipment from India due to reach Russia this week appears to be the largest single batch of imported petrol since the fuel crisis erupted, but it is not the only source of foreign fuel Russia is now using.
Belarus, which mainly refines Russian crude, has also significantly increased its petrol sales to Moscow. In June, it sold Russia 184,000 tonnes, a threefold increase month on month and a 184-fold increase year on year, according to Russia-based Price Benchmark Centre data shared with the FT.
Alexander Novak, Russia’s vice-premier overseeing the energy sector, confirmed the start of imports of “oil products” on July 8.
Speaking at a televised meeting on economic issues on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned the fuel crisis, but said the “difficulties” were “temporary” and would not change the “overall economic dynamics”.
Imports, together with other state measures such as lowering fuel quality requirements and adapting logistics, helped Russia ease the crisis, especially in Moscow and St Petersburg, said Janis Kluge, a Russia expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
People have also adapted, reducing demand, while independent fuel stations have raised prices to European levels. As a result, since last week several regions have lifted previously imposed restrictions and queues at fuel stations there have shortened.
But in others, such as the southern city of Astrakhan or the western cities of Lipetsk and Voronezh, queues of more than 50 or even 100 cars are still being reported, according to local media.
In Ulyanovsk on the Volga river, the situation had worsened, Kluge’s analysis of Russian platforms showing petrol availability by accumulating user-generated data showed, probably as a result of the authorities rerouting some volumes to priority regions.
Additional reporting by Chris Kay in Mumbai
