What the war feels like in Moscow

At a Lukoil station on Moscow’s Lenin Prospekt, a red-faced man in an almost spotless white T-shirt confronts the cashier. “You have gasoline on Yandex, don’t you? But where is it? And you want to be a serious oil company?”

The cashier does not yield. “If you want correct information, install our company app.” The station is selling only diesel, as are seven of the nine Moscow petrol stations visited that day. Small businesses are offering gasoline for home delivery online, charging the equivalent of 50 euros to transport 10 liters and another 10 euros for each additional 10 liters. That comes on top of the station price, roughly 70 cents per liter for regular gasoline.

The prices approach profiteering because the fuel crisis makes them possible. Ukrainian drones struck five refineries during the final week of August, and the report says there is no end in sight.

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You have gasoline on Yandex, don’t you? But where is it? And you want to be a serious oil company?

Muscovites have long been used to living on an island of prosperity, protected under what the report calls a huge glass bell. Moscow received preferential supplies even during the Soviet era, when people traveled from surrounding regions to buy sausage unavailable in their local shops. The same disparity remains under Vladimir Putin: official figures put the average Russian salary in May 2026 at the equivalent of 1,100 euros, compared with 1,830 euros in Moscow. The capital also has Russia’s most modern CT scanners, while Mayor Sergei Sobyanin says average life expectancy there is 79.5 years, 4.2 years above the national figure.

City authorities spent the summer reinforcing that sheltered image with free fitness events, open-air cinemas and pop concerts. At Chistoprudny Boulevard, a St. Petersburg troupe performed pantomime to the American standard “What a Wonderful World,” while a nearby theater workshop encouraged adults and children to imitate cats. Moscow appeared to enjoy its late summer with almost childlike delight, as if war could not penetrate the city’s protective shell. Yet the report says drone attacks, fuel shortages and the prospect of mobilization are now putting cracks in that image.

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If you want correct information, install our company app.