Russians urged to work from home amid fuel crisis

Russian President Vladimir Putin leads a cabinet meeting on transport and fuel issues, amid widespread fuel shortages, via videoconference, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Authorities in Russia’s Novosibirsk region have urged residents to work remotely and limit travel by car, amid a deepening fuel crisis triggered by Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries.

The region, home to almost three million people, is one of the largest in Siberia by population and a major economic and manufacturing hub.

The announcement comes after Ukraine struck an oil refinery in the neighbouring region of Omsk earlier this week, knocking out one of Russia’s largest oil processing facilities by capacity.

More than 90 percent of Russian regions have experienced fuel shortages since June, some of which have introduced rationing at petrol stations and bans on filling jerry cans, according to local media reports and officials.

In a decree dated Wednesday but published by Russian media on Friday, Novosibirsk’s regional government recommended employers “switch staff to remote working and reduce fuel consumption”.

It also recommended “residents limit travel by private vehicle within the Novosibirsk region and outside its borders until the state of high alert is lifted”.

Authorities in the neighbouring Tomsk region have also encouraged remote work, telling government officials to reconsider business trips and “hold meetings online”, while the city of Irkutsk further east has also recommended employees work from home.

Ukraine has targeted Russian oil and gas infrastructure throughout the four-and-a-half year war, strikes that it says are fair retaliation for Russian strikes on its own civilians.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged the fuel shortages but said they are “not critical” and accused Kyiv of trying to sow division in Russian society.