BRUTAL SPIRAL

Desperate Putin Sends Guards to Help Conceal Humiliating Crisis

The Russian dictator is taking drastic measures amid rising unrest.

Vladimir Putin has deployed Russia’s National Guard to gas stations as the country’s fuel crisis spirals into street brawls and scenes of public outrage.

With only enough gas and diesel for roughly 28 percent of gas stations across the country, according to a local monitoring site, more and more ordinary Russians have begun to sound the alarm publicly—only to quickly be arrested or hit with fines.

Five people were detained in Volgograd after filming a public appeal to federal authorities over the fuel shortage, while another man was detained and fined in Perm for planning a public protest.

The unrest is a result of Ukraine amping up its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in a bid to force negotiations to end Putin’s years-long war. Russians have faced massive gas shortages in recent weeks after long-range drone strikes hit oil refineries, with some drivers waiting in lines as long as 30 hours or more to fill their tanks. Last month, it was reported that the shortage had spread to at least 78 of Russia’s 83 regions, affecting some 50 million people, the Telegraph reports.

Meanwhile, Putin has responded by deploying the National Guard (Rosgvardia) to patrol gas stations outside Moscow, amid local reports of fights breaking out at the pumps as drivers race to fill up before supplies run out. Russian officials have reportedly been comfortably filling up their own tanks.

At the same time, major fuel suppliers have reimposed limits on gasoline purchases, contradicting assurances from Putin and other Kremlin officials that the country’s fuel crisis was easing.

“The situation will gradually improve,” Putin said in mid-July, weeks after admitting that Ukraine’s attacks on his oil refineries have resulted in Russia facing a “certain shortage” of fuel.

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Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak offered a similarly upbeat assessment later that month, saying “the balance is now better, and the situation at gas stations is significantly better.”

In August alone, Ukraine’s drones have struck nearly a third of Russia’s major oil refineries, the Telegraph wrote.

This is just the latest struggle Putin has faced since he launched his “special military operation” in February 2022. Also this week, Sochi, a Black Sea beach resort favored by Putin, was battered by a Ukrainian counter-offensive.

Now, the formerly pristine waters are laden with fuel, and the beaches, once packed with tourists, are deserted.

What’s more, Russians are reportedly pulling billions from their bank accounts over fears that Putin could grab their money to fund his war as the tide appears to turn.

Depositors have pulled out nearly $3.4 billion in just the first two weeks of August—on top of a staggering $11.8 billion yanked in June and July.

“Drones are flying. Things are burning down. Nervousness is growing. And people’s everyday wisdom may be kicking in that they need to have cash under their pillow and not somewhere in banks where it may never be returned,” a former finance official told The Washington Post.

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Laura EspositoBreaking News Reporter

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