Russia ramps up attacks on Ukraine’s gas stations with nearly 250 strikes
Illustrative photo: strikes on gas stations (State Emergency Service of Ukraine)
Russia has sharply intensified its attacks on Ukrainian gas stations. Experts believe these strikes are aimed primarily at intimidating the civilian population rather than disrupting fuel supplies to the Ukrainian military, according to The New York Times.
Strikes on gas stations mark a new tactic
In recent months, Russian forces have struck nearly 250 gas stations across Ukraine. As The New York Times notes, while the primary targets used to be energy infrastructure, civilian gas stations — used daily by thousands of Ukrainians — are now increasingly coming under attack.
The NYT reports that after a series of such strikes, many drivers try to spend as little time as possible at gas stations because they no longer perceive them as safe places.
Ukrainian authorities and analysts link the shift in the nature of Russian attacks to Ukraine's campaign targeting Russian oil refineries.
Kyiv has repeatedly emphasized that strikes on refineries are aimed at reducing the revenues Russia uses to finance the war.
For its part, Russia claims that attacks on Ukrainian gas stations are allegedly intended to undermine the transport logistics of Ukraine's Defense Forces.
Experts name the real objective
Ukrainian officials point out that unlike Russian oil refineries, Ukrainian gas stations are civilian commercial facilities visited daily by civilians.
Serhii Beskrestnov (Flash), an advisor to the President of Ukraine on technological defense directions, believes that such strikes have no significant impact on military fuel supply.
"Therefore, the sole purpose of these attacks is to terrorize the civilian population," he said.
According to The New York Times, Russia's Ministry of Defense has begun regularly including strikes on Ukrainian gas stations in its daily briefings and publishing attack footage, claiming that the Ukrainian military allegedly uses such facilities.
Number of attacks has sharply increased
According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) organization, at least 246 strikes on gas stations have been recorded since the beginning of April, with 194 of them occurring between early June and July 27.
Gas stations in front-line regions were the most frequent targets, but attacks were also recorded in areas far from the combat zone.
In addition, analysts note that fuel truck drivers are increasingly refusing to work on the most dangerous routes.
Despite the scale of the campaign, The New York Times emphasizes that the strikes have had a serious psychological impact but have not disrupted Ukraine's fuel supply — unlike the consequences of Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries.
Russian forces had already struck Ukrainian gas stations earlier. In particular, in the Shyroke community near Kryvyi Rih, a Shahed kamikaze drone hit a gas station, killing three people, including a child. That strike was one of the most tragic episodes in the series of attacks on Ukraine's civilian fuel infrastructure.
