Russians grapple with fuel shortages, job scarcity and rising anxiety

Anonymous contributors to DW describe a daily reality of hunting for fuel, sometimes driving 40 kilometres and waiting hours in queues of up to a hundred cars, especially after Ukrainian drone attacks on refineries. Polling firms VCIOM, FOM and the Levada Center all record a marked decline in public confidence, though the Kremlin maintains that conditions are stable. Official unemployment figures remain low at 2.2%, but job portals hh.ru and SuperJob reveal a surge in résumés and a drop in vacancies, indicating a strained labour market and delayed wages.

Retail gasoline prices have risen 7.4% this year, surpassing the 4.19% overall inflation rate, with independent stations charging markedly higher rates. Citizens report cutting back on travel, withdrawing cash, buying dollars, and focusing on immediate survival rather than long-term planning. Social attitudes are shifting toward isolation and frustration, with many blaming external forces and expressing a loss of optimism about any political change. Analysts attribute much of the fuel shortage to a near-one-third reduction in refining capacity, as noted by Alexander Shokhin of the RSPP.