"It's No Longer Just Fists Flying": Russians Are Fighting Over Gasoline

Due to the fuel shortage, fights are breaking out at gas stations everywhere.

Tensions in Russian society are reaching new heights. After hours-long lines at gas stations across the Russian Federation, fights are breaking out with increasing frequency—in some places, involving the use of riot gear. Dozens of videos documenting such incidents have surfaced—the Telegram channel “MO” has compiled a video featuring several typical episodes.

Fighters are dragging people out of their cars. In Izhevsk, a driver dragged his opponent out of the car right on the gas station premises and began beating him. In other regions, conflicts are no longer limited to motorists: in Chuvashia, a motorcyclist was attacked after trying to ride past a long line to reach an open pump.

In Kaliningrad and Chuvashia, entire groups of people are now getting involved in fights. At a Teboil gas station in Kaliningrad, three women got into a fight at once. In comments, local residents claim that such conflicts occur almost daily and flare up because of attempts to cut in line. In Cheboksary, a man first insulted a woman, then hit her car, tried to attack her, and snatched her phone when she began filming what was happening. Only a gas station employee was able to calm the aggressive driver down.

Sverdlovsk Region: Blood on the Asphalt. In Serov, a man refused to let women go ahead of him at a gas pump dispensing AI-92 (“ten”), after which an argument broke out. A video shows the conflict escalating into a fight: one of the women was struck in the face, causing blood to gush from her nose. The assailant later claimed he was drunk and was trying to “organize the line.”

In Tatarstan, a retiree was injured in a scuffle. At a gas station near the border with Bashkortostan, two drivers argued over who should go first at the pump. The verbal altercation quickly escalated into a brawl: the wife of one of the men and a friend of the other intervened in the conflict. A retiree who tried to break up the fight was injured.

It’s no longer just fists that are being used. In Zelenogorsk, near St. Petersburg, a driver sprayed pepper spray directly into his opponent’s face while they were waiting in line at the pump. The victim suffered chemical burns to his eyes, and the police opened a criminal case for hooliganism.

Police are nowhere to be seen. Some regions have begun looking for alternative ways to control the situation.

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