Russia Turns To India For Gasoline Imports As Ukrainian Drone Strikes Cause Fuel Crisis

Russia has turned to India to buy gasoline as Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries have pushed the country into a summer fuel shortage, Reuters reported exclusively, citing sources familiar with the matter. The attacks have significantly degraded Russia's domestic refining capacity, leaving the country unable to meet internal demand and forcing it to seek imports from a country it has itself been supplying with heavily discounted crude since the start of the war.

The development represents a striking reversal of the energy relationship between the two countries. Since Western sanctions were imposed on Russia following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, India emerged as one of Moscow's largest crude oil customers, importing discounted barrels that Russian exporters could no longer sell to European buyers. India's refineries processed that crude into fuels — and it now appears some of those refined products are flowing back to Russia.

Ukrainian drone campaigns targeting Russian energy infrastructure have intensified over the course of the war, with refineries in multiple Russian regions damaged or temporarily shut. The resulting tightness in domestic fuel supply has become a significant problem for the Russian economy, particularly as agricultural and transport demand peaks in summer months.

For India, the trade is commercially attractive but diplomatically delicate. New Delhi has consistently maintained that its energy purchases from Russia are a matter of national interest and economic necessity. Becoming a fuel exporter to Russia, however, adds a new dimension that Western partners — particularly the United States — may scrutinise more closely.