Russia has officially banned all diesel exports in a bid to secure its domestic fuel market following highly destructive Ukrainian drone strikes on its energy infrastructure. According to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, the embargo covers all diesel exports, closing a loophole that allowed self-producing oil firms to sell fuel abroad.
The ban is scheduled to remain in place through the end of July. On Tuesday, a long-range Ukrainian strike successfully crippled Gazprom Neft’s Omsk oil refinery—the largest fuel processing plant in Russia—knocking its primary crude distillation units offline.
The current Ukrainian campaign is reportedly one of the most aggressive, with longer-range strikes now confirming just how far Ukraine can reach into Russia’s energy infrastructure.
Russia is currently facing a ~20% shortfall in domestic gasoline production and plans to import up to 400,000 tonnes of fuel per month from neighboring countries to cover the deficit.
