Russia's Wartime Mood Darkens as Fuel Crisis Hits Moscow
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- Moscow's southbound railway stations, normally bustling with midsummer holiday-makers, feel transformed — trains heading to Crimea are described as "spookily empty" and military uniforms ("the khaki") are far more prominent than in past summers
- Russians across the country are fixated on petrol shortages, drone strikes and internet outages, with "a pervading sense of anxiety" replacing the usual carefree summer atmosphere
- The threat of a new round of mobilisation hangs over public conversation alongside visible military movement at transport hubs
- For the past four years, families and uniformed men had mingled at these stations without the current dread — making this summer's tonal shift especially stark
- Russia has banned diesel exports amid attacks on its refineries, compounding the fuel squeeze now reaching the capital
- Ukrainian drone strikes have hit Russian refineries more than 1,700 miles inside the country, causing fuel queues in Moscow even as Putin's reported approval rating sits at 74%
Why it matters: For four years most Russians experienced the war as something happening elsewhere; now fuel shortages, empty resort trains and mobilization fears are landing on civilians in Moscow and beyond. If the implicit social contract — tolerance of war in exchange for personal stability — continues to erode beyond frontline regions, Putin's 74% approval buffer faces its first sustained test from a non-elite, non-military constituency.
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