Traffic Jams In Moscow Have Increased Sharply Due To Lines At Gas Stations
- 4.07.2026, 18:38
The fuel crisis is having an increasingly significant impact on life in the Russian capital.
The fuel crisis caused by Ukrainian Armed Forces strikes on Russian oil refineries is increasingly affecting life in Moscow, Russia’s largest metropolis and one of the largest in Europe, with a population of 13.3 million people—or about 19 million when including the Moscow Region.
Earlier this week, some major gas station chains, including Gazprom Neft, Lukoil, and Teboil—imposed limits on the amount of gasoline and diesel that could be filled into a single tank, after which lines of motorists waiting to refuel began to form at some gas stations in the capital, as well as in other regions. Muscovites report that some stations have no gasoline at all, and at those where fuel is available, they have to wait in lines ranging from 20 minutes to 2 hours, according to The Moscow Times.
“The situation is bad. There are lines everywhere. In some places, there’s no gas at all—you might drive past three gas stations with no fuel at all. Then you’re standing in line—you might wait an hour, two hours, or maybe 30 minutes, depending on your luck,” Maria, a Moscow resident, told Reuters. She noted that she’s trying to switch to public transportation because the city is “in trouble” with fuel. Against this backdrop, as Mash reports, traffic jams in Moscow have increased by 15–20% over the past two weeks, as drivers “are increasingly stuck not only in traffic but also waiting for a gas pump to open up.” According to the channel, because of this, “localized traffic jams” are now occurring in some places even at night.
The traffic situation has worsened most noticeably on the Garden Ring and the Third Transport Ring (TTK), the southern and northeastern sections of the Moscow Ring Road (MKAD), as well as on the Leningrad, Dmitrovskoye, and Volgogradskoye Highways, and on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, Mash reports. In the Moscow Region, traffic problems caused by lines at gas stations occur most frequently on the Novorizhskoye, Dmitrovskoye, Volgogradskoye, and Shchelkovskoye Highways. Some drivers are waiting in line to refuel, while others are driving around looking for an open gas station. As a result, traffic congestion in the capital consistently reaches 8–10 points in the morning and evening, and about 6 points during the day.
In mid-June, Gazpromneft’s Moscow Oil Refinery in Kapotnya (MNPR) was struck twice by Ukrainian drones, resulting in massive fires at the facility. According to Reuters, this led to a complete shutdown of the refinery, and, according to sources, it will not be operational again until at least 2027. Other refineries supplying Moscow via product pipelines—in Yaroslavl, Ryazan, and Kstovo—have also come under drone attack in recent months.