Russia faces rolling gas shortages amid sustained Ukrainian drone attacks

LEILA FADEL, HOST: Russia, one of the world's top producers of oil, is suffering from rolling gas shortages. It's a consequence of months of Ukrainian attacks against the country's energy and logistics sectors, part of a wider effort to undermine the Kremlin's ability to fund its war. NPR's Charles Maynes reports from Moscow.

CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Even in a petrol state like Russia, gas is just one of those things. People notice when the price goes up, when it goes down and certainly when there's no gas at all.

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YULIA BKHOVETS: (Speaking Russian).

MAYNES: "I've been waiting since 2 a.m.," says Yulia Bkhovets (ph) in a video she posted to social media outside a gas station in the southern Russian city of Sochi.

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MAYNES: This has been a summer of discontent for Russian drivers, with many facing long lines at the pump due to sustained Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries, storage hubs, pipelines and ports. By independent estimates, a third of Russian oil production is now offline due to Ukrainian strikes. Russian energy minister Alexander Novak insists things aren't that bad.

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ALEXANDER NOVAK: (Speaking Russian).

MAYNES: "There are problems with logistics, and we're working with each region separately to address them," he told Russian state media this week. Among government solutions, access to lower grade fuel rushed repairs to bring damaged oil facilities back online, and imported gas from countries like India, Kazakhstan and Belarus, moves Novak says will alleviate shortages. Russian president Vladimir Putin shares his confidence.

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PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: (Speaking Russian).

MAYNES: This week, Putin acknowledged the harm from Ukrainian drone attacks but maintained there would not be - in fact, could not be - any critical consequences to the Russian economy or the war effort. Still, timing is everything in politics. The fuel problems have peaked ahead of parliamentary elections in which critics of the war and its impact on daily life have already been stripped from the ballot, and neither the Kremlin nor the Russian military seem to have an answer on how to prevent future Ukrainian attacks, leaving Russians to pray for the best.

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UNIDENTIFIED CHOIR: (Singing in non-English language).

MAYNES: The Russian Orthodox Church, the influential backer of the war, has used the pulpit to weigh in on the issue and counsel patients.

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ALEXANDER BUTRIN: (Speaking Russian).

MAYNES: This week saw archpriest Alexander Butrin warn Russians it was un-Christian to let anger over gas shortages spill over into anti-government protests. His underlying message, this is no time to rock the boat, particularly when that boat is running on empty.

Charles Maynes, NPR News, Moscow.