Russia bans gasoline exports from April 1 after strikes on refineries

Russia is reimposing a ban on gasoline exports from April 1, 2026 due to falling production and rising prices.

This is reported by The Moscow Times.

As the publication notes, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Novak instructed to prepare an appropriate decision after a meeting with energy companies and security forces.

Officially, the authorities explain the move by the need to stabilize the domestic market, but the actual reason was a series of drone strikes on oil refining infrastructure.

In the last week alone, two large enterprises in the Russian Federation have stopped operating – the Saratov Oil Refinery and Kirishinefteorgsintez (Kinef), one of the largest plants in the country.

Key installations were damaged at Kinef, and the timing of restoration remains unknown. Earlier, the Volgograd refinery also stopped after the attacks.

The situation is also worsened by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz due to the conflict in the Middle East, which has already caused a sharp increase in prices: gasoline has risen by 14%, diesel by 22% since the beginning of spring.

It was previously reported that on the night of March 26, units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces attacked the Leningrad Region of the Russian Federation, hitting the Kirishinsky Oil Refinery.

As a reminder, the Ukrainian Defense Forces struck at Russian fuel and energy infrastructure facilities, in particular at the oil terminal in Primorsk and the oil refinery in Ufa.