As Ukraine hits Russia's refineries, Russia targets Ukraine's petrol pumps

As Ukraine targets Russian refineries, Russia is striking Ukrainian petrol pumps.

A think tank reports that Russia has attacked over 200 Ukrainian petrol stations since April.

"Fill up quickly and move on," advised Mayor Ihor Terekhov to drivers in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city.

On Monday, Russian drones hit two petrol stations in Kharkiv, located in Ukraine's north-east, injuring two people, according to local officials. Last week, a separate attack on a petrol station near Kryvyi Rih resulted in three fatalities.

Russia's systematic targeting of civilian filling stations with drones and missiles intensified in April, primarily in frontline regions, and these attacks are becoming more frequent.

Concurrently, Russia has experienced two significant waves of nationwide fuel shortages due to Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries.

Oleksandr Sirenko, an analyst with the Ukrainian energy think-tank Nafto Rynok ("Oil Market"), states that Russia has struck at least 246 filling stations across Ukraine to date.

In July alone, the Centre for Information Resilience, an open-source investigation non-profit, verified 114 Russian strikes on filling stations, a notable increase from 66 the previous month.

Given the danger, police have issued specific guidelines, urging motorists to evacuate petrol stations and, if necessary, abandon their vehicles when air raid alerts are sounded.

"You can fix your car, but you won't get your life back," warned a police force in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

The damage caused is highly disruptive and poses considerable risks to civilians.

Sirenko noted that initially, smaller, remote-controlled drones were used for the attacks, but Russia later began deploying larger, more expensive, and more destructive Iranian-made Shahed drones.

A single Shahed drone is estimated to cost between $20,000 (£14,500) and $50,000 (£36,000).

"One petrol station took five Shahed hits," Sirenko informed the BBC. "These Shaheds cost more than the petrol station."

Local residents have been advised against lingering at filling stations.

Some crucial roads, such as the one connecting Kharkiv and Dnipro, now lack any operational petrol stations.

All petrol stations around Opishnya, a large village in the neighboring Poltava region, have been destroyed.

"You can see our enemy's strategy. They want to deprive us of fuel," stated village chief Mykola Riznyk. In a Facebook video, he mentioned that local authorities have started stockpiling small quantities of fuel in various locations.

In Mykolaiv, southern Ukraine, local resident and driver Kateryna Stokolya observed that petrol stations are becoming much stricter about ceasing operations during air alerts.

"Now everyone's making allowances for that, and it's not a problem," she told the BBC. "Security comes first. If you can't fill up now, you'll fill up later. There are no queues or panic buying."

Stokolya believes that Russia's objective with these attacks is "terrorizing the public so we force the government to capitulate or accept agreements that do not favour Ukraine."

In Ukrainian-controlled areas of the partially occupied Kherson region, nearly half of the petrol stations have ceased operations. The remaining ones are attacked by Russian drones "almost every day," according to deputy regional administration head Oleksandr Tolokonnikov.

All petrol stations in Trostyanets, a town of nearly 20,000 people near the north-eastern border with Russia, have reportedly been destroyed. In response, local authorities began dispensing fuel directly from road tankers, which frequently change their location to minimize the risk of being hit.

Ukrainians appear to be following official advice.

"Clients aren't browsing the aisles anymore, looking at what we've got on our shelves," said Oleksandr Melnychuk, head of the strategic marketing department at BRSM Nafta chain of petrol stations. "They fill up and are keen to get on their way as soon as possible."

His company has lost eight petrol stations and is currently rebuilding two others that were hit.

To protect customers, BRSM Nafta has been constructing concrete shelters at its forecourts and covering them with anti-drone nets. It has also reduced working hours and the number of staff at some locations.

Despite the deadly attacks, analysts suggest the impact on Ukraine's fuel supplies is minor.

However, the drone strikes have not significantly affected fuel supplies so far. A report by the National Bank of Ukraine indicates that 4% of the country's filling stations have been damaged or destroyed, but the market impact has been small.

"Increasing sales in regions which are further away from the front line or from the border with Russia have made up for sales lost at destroyed stations," the report stated.

The situation in Russia is markedly different, following Ukraine's campaign of attacks on Russian refineries and other infrastructure.

Russia has experienced fuel shortages in almost every region as a result. Izvestia, a popular Russian newspaper, reported last week that petrol was available at only 28% of Russian filling stations.

Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not depend on vulnerable large refineries and fuel depots, instead importing fuel by road using tanker trucks.

Ukraine's market is also saturated with numerous petrol stations, which typically offer drivers alternatives if one or more are targeted in a specific area, Sirenko explained.

"You curse and drive on to another petrol station. OK, you travel for 10km more than you bargained for, but that's not such a big problem," he said.

If anything, the conflict between the US and Iran is having a greater impact on local fuel prices, he added. Typically, the most expensive components of filling stations, such as underground petrol and diesel tanks, remain undamaged by Russian attacks.