Putin mutiny as Russians fume over crippling petrol crisis – ‘Fiasco!’ | World | News

Vladimir Putin is facing unprecedented criticism today as Russia descends into chaos due to worsening oil queues. Attacks on Ukraine’s oil refineries tighten the noose on the dictator, offering dire warnings of economic collapse and social unrest.

Due to chronic fuel shortages, Russians queue for hours or even days in some regions to fill up their cars. Fights break out in Soviet-style queues and bribes are paid to obtain fuel on the black market, as the war takes a strong toll on Putin’s own people. As Putin’s scores in the polls fell, ruling party lawmaker and reserve general Andrey Gurulev said: “This is a fiasco.” He warned that Putin’s rigid “system of governance” was “collapsing”. Another member of parliament, Vyacheslav Markhayev, a former police general who said Russia was “on the verge of a social explosion,” spoke angrily: “Why can’t Russia, which produces hundreds of millions of tons of oil, provide fuel to its own people?

“We are exporting resources, but the filling stations inside are empty. Why are we still sending mineral resources and resources to the West and NATO? Where is the logic?”

He accused Putin of leaving ordinary Russians vulnerable to Ukrainian drone attacks, making them insecure by continuing his endless war.

“Why can’t the government ensure the national security of the country’s population against enemy attacks, but why does it find the time and resources to fight against its own people? [its] “A campaign to prevent internet access, free communication and accurate information?”

He demanded “prosecutor investigations, real resignations and criminal cases against people whose actions or inactions lead people to despair.”

Unrest will grow until the Putin regime “admits its mistakes and miscalculations.”

Communist lawmaker Nina Ostanina claimed the Kremlin was covering up the cause of oil shortages linked to Putin’s war. He warned that the agricultural sector would suffer due to fuel shortages.

“The country may be left without bread, which is equivalent to death under international sanctions,” he said.

Anger is also growing as Putin’s officials in Russia are reportedly allowed to line up to fill up with fuel and cars are snaking for miles on highways. Even very remote cities like Chita in Siberia (3,700 miles from the war zone) experience chronic queues.

Police and Kazakh warriors are stationed at fuel stations due to fights in the Black Sea resort town of Anapa.

Russians are being warned of months of fuel shortages unless Putin agrees to peace talks in the war – which he steadfastly refuses to do.

“The most worrying thing is that the crisis is just beginning,” Finam strategist Yaroslav Kabakov said. “The peak of seasonal demand traditionally falls in August-September, and signs of shortages and accelerating prices have already appeared in June.”

Russians are finding an ingenious way to cheat fuel rationing at gas stations, but they could face prison.

In the footage, a woman can be seen holding on to the gas filler neck when men do not allow her to fill the canisters.

Some drivers cut holes in the hood of their vehicles to mimic fuel filler caps. They use the fake hole to secretly fill one or several canisters, violating the Putin regime’s restrictions on gasoline purchases.

In the footage, a man was caught filling up fuel with a fake fuel filler in a forecourt in the Siberian city of Barnaul, cheating the system.

In Kolomna, outside Moscow, a driver was filmed refueling his Toyota Camry and then boldly pouring gasoline into a plastic shopping bag. Some commenters claimed that the bag hid the canister it filled.

Other Russians try to bribe gas station staff with cash payments so they can buy extra fuel. Reports say drivers could be charged under the law, which could result in up to seven years in prison.

Polls in Russia are artificially inflating Putin’s vote, but his support is falling more than at any other time during the war.