The Kyiv Independent reports that Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) drones struck Russia’s Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat petrochemical plant in Bashkortostan on Sept. 24, sparking a fire. It marks the second attack in a week on one of Russia’s largest oil facilities, located 1,300 km from the front. Kyiv targets such infrastructure to disrupt Russia’s war economy, exacerbating a nationwide fuel shortage. Russian fuel prices are spiking in late 2025 due to these intensified attacks, coinciding with peak seasonal demand from the harvest, tourist season, and increased road transport. In response, the Russian government imposed a temporary ban on gasoline exports for August and September and is now considering an extension through October, according to The Moscow Times. They write:

Wholesale gasoline prices in Russia climbed to record highs this week, driven by a wave of Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries that has coincided with peak demand during the holiday and harvest seasons.

According to data from the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange, the country’s main commodity exchange, the price of AI-95, a type of unleaded motor fuel that is standard at gas stations across Russia, reached a historic high of 82,380 rubles ($1,000) per ton on Wednesday. Although the price dipped slightly by 1.33% on Thursday, it remained near its peak.

The price surge, which began earlier this summer, has seen wholesale costs soar by over 50% since January. Experts have largely attributed the increase to an uptick in Ukrainian attacks that have damaged refineries and forced major facilities offline, thereby tightening supplies.

In response, the government imposed a temporary ban on gasoline exports for August and September and is now considering an extension through October.

Read more here.