Putin eases fuel subsidy rules as Ukrainian strikes hit Russian refineries
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree loosening restrictions on fuel subsidies for domestic refiners, ensuring continued state support as Ukrainian drone and missile strikes disrupt the country’s oil industry.
The changes, published on Oct. 12, allow refineries to keep receiving government payments even if wholesale prices for gasoline and diesel exceed the thresholds set under existing rules. The measure will remain in force from Oct. 1 until May 1, 2026.
Fuel subsidies are intended to keep gasoline and diesel flowing to Russia’s domestic market when exports become more profitable. Until now, state payments were capped once wholesale prices climbed more than 10% above the threshold price for gasoline or 20% for diesel.
Russia disbursed 1.8 trillion rubles ($22 billion) in fuel subsidies in 2024, but payouts dropped to 716 billion rubles ($8 billion) during the first nine months of 2025, according to official figures.
The decline coincided with intensified Ukrainian attacks since August that damaged multiple refineries, a critical source of revenue sustaining Moscow’s war effort, cut crude processing, and triggered a rise in domestic fuel prices.
On Oct. 11, drones operated by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Bashkortostan Republic, triggering explosions and a fire, a source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent.
The strike targeted the Bashnafta-UNPZ plant in Ufa, a city that is one of Russia's largest centers for the refining industry, supplying fuel and lubricants to the Russian Armed Forces, according to the source.
The attack against the facility, which lies approximately 1,400 kilometers (about 870 miles) from the front line in Ukraine, marks the third SBU drone strike against Bashkortostan in the past month.
