Russia has announced it will extend its ban on petrol exports until the end of 2025, as Ukrainian drone strikes continue to hammer oil refineries and drive fuel prices to record highs.
The export ban, first implemented in March 2025, was introduced to secure adequate domestic fuel supply. However, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told Russian state media on Thursday that the government is preparing to officially extend the measure through December.
“We will extend the ban on petrol exports until the end of the year in the near future,” TASS quoted Novak as saying. He also revealed plans to impose a similar ban on diesel fuel exports by retailers and private traders.
The decision comes after a summer marked by intensified Ukrainian strikes targeting Russian energy infrastructure — particularly oil refineries. These attacks, which Kyiv describes as retaliation for Russia’s continued missile campaigns, have slashed fuel output and disrupted supply chains across multiple Russian regions.
On Wednesday, Ukraine struck a major refinery in Bashkortostan, central Russia, triggering a massive fire and further damaging processing capacity.
In Russian-occupied Crimea, Moscow-backed authorities on Thursday confirmed that the peninsula is experiencing worsening fuel shortages, blaming a “reduction in production volumes at Russian refineries.”
With international energy markets already strained, analysts warn that the extended export restrictions especially on petrol and diesel could send global fuel prices higher, particularly in regions that still depend on Russian petroleum products.
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