Russian forces struck two gas stations in Kyiv on the morning of September 11. According to Kyiv Mayor and KMDA Head Vitalii Klitschko, one gas station is located in the Dniprovskyi district on the left bank, while the other is in the Obolonsky district on the right bank.
The day before, the occupiers for the first time deliberately hit a gas station in Kyiv, destroying a Ukrnafta station in the Holosiivskyi district. Two consecutive strikes on such facilities indicate a change in tactics rather than coincidence.
How Critical Are the Losses
Dmitry Lioushkin, founder of the fuel group of companies "Prime," wrote on Facebook that such gas stations can be put back into operation in less than a month, so the main thing during strikes is to avoid casualties.
From now on, gas stations should only be used for refueling, and this should be done as quickly as possible, Lioushkin noted.
Other market participants also told LIGA.net that damage to gas stations does not necessarily mean they are taken out of service. Companies constantly restore their stations, and in cases of minor damage, networks try to resume operations of the complex on the same day.
Overall, Ukraine has approximately 5,000–6,000 gas stations, so even a series of strikes on several facilities does not create a fuel shortage on a national scale.
Experience from Front-Line Regions
- In mid-June, as a result of Russian attacks, the last gas stations in Trostianets were destroyed. On July 2, the authorities of Sumy region began deploying mobile gas stations.
- On August 9, Russians destroyed all gas stations in the Opishnianska community of Poltava region, 85 km from the Russian border.
- Olha Vasylevska-Smahliuk, a member of the Verkhovna Rada committee on finance, tax and customs policy, stated that for communities where Russian strikes destroyed all stationary gas stations, a legal mechanism for the operation of mobile refueling complexes is being prepared.
If strikes on capital gas stations continue with the same regularity, the question will not be about fuel shortages, but whether market operators are ready to scale up mobile solutions that have already been tested in front-line communities.
