Belarus has slightly reduced its fuel shipments to Russia
In August, Belarus slightly reduced rail shipments of gasoline and diesel fuel to the Russian domestic market. At the same time, volumes remained close to record highs amid a fuel shortage in Russia, which worsened following drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and port infrastructure. Over the first eight months of the year, shipments of Belarusian gasoline to Russia increased nearly 23-fold compared to the same period in 2025.
In August, Belarus reduced the volume of gasoline and diesel fuel it supplies by rail to Russia’s domestic market, Reuters reports, citing sources and its own calculations. Despite the reduction, volumes remained very high. Russia continues to experience a shortage of motor fuel due to problems at its oil refineries and infrastructure.
Over 200,000 metric tons of gasoline were supplied
In August, Belarusian oil refineries shipped approximately 201,000 metric tons of automotive gasoline to Russia. This is about 5% less than in July, when shipments reached a record 212,000 metric tons. In other words, even after the reduction, Belarus continued to supply Russia with over 200,000 metric tons of gasoline per month.
Diesel fuel shipments also decreased slightly in August. The volume of shipments fell by approximately 5.5%—from 162,000 to 153,000 metric tons. In addition to gasoline and diesel fuel, Belarus supplied aviation kerosene to Russia. In August, approximately 9,600 metric tons were shipped. In July, this figure stood at approximately 13,100 metric tons.
Supplies have increased significantly over the year
If we look not at a single month but at the entire period from January to August, the scale of shipments is significantly larger. According to Reuters sources, Belarus shipped more than 866,000 metric tons of gasoline to Russia by rail during the first eight months of 2026. This is nearly 23 times more than during the same period in 2025.
Diesel fuel shipments also rose sharply. From January through August, Russia received approximately 570,000 metric tons of Belarusian diesel fuel. This is 5.4 times more than a year earlier. Thus, even with a slight decline in August, Belarus remains an important source of fuel for the Russian market.
Why Russia Needed More Fuel
In recent months, the Russian market has faced a shortage of gasoline and diesel fuel. One of the reasons was numerous drone attacks on Russian oil refineries. Due to the strikes, some facilities were forced to reduce or halt refining operations. This reduced the amount of fuel Russia could produce domestically. Problems arose not only at refineries; strikes on port infrastructure also hampered the fuel sector’s operations.
To prevent an even greater shortage, Russian authorities imposed restrictions on the export of petroleum products. In particular, Moscow banned the export of automotive gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel fuel. At the same time, Russia began increasing its imports of petroleum products by sea.
Belarus Decided to Help Russia
Belarus has two oil refineries. Their combined nominal refining capacity is approximately 24 million metric tons of crude oil per year. Against the backdrop of problems at Russian refineries, Minsk declared its readiness to partially compensate for the capacity Russia lost due to drone attacks.
It was against this backdrop that Belarusian fuel shipments to Russia rose sharply throughout 2026. Despite the August reduction, the Russian market continued to receive significant volumes of gasoline and diesel fuel from Belarus. For Moscow, these supplies became one of the ways to support the domestic market during a period of shortage.
Belarus has resumed shipping fuel through Russian ports
In August, Belarus also resumed transit rail shipments of fuel for further export via Russian ports. In July, such shipments were virtually nonexistent. In August, Belarus shipped more than 50,400 metric tons of motor gasoline and about 3,800 metric tons of diesel fuel to the port of Astrakhan.
These are no longer supplies for Russian consumers, but rather the transit of fuel through Russian territory for subsequent transshipment at the port. Such shipments between the two countries have a long history. Belarus has been shipping petroleum products from its refineries for transshipment through Russian ports since March 2021.
This is taking place under an agreement between Moscow and Minsk on cooperation in the transportation and transit transshipment of petroleum products. Thus, in August, Belarusian shipments to Russia decreased slightly compared to the record-breaking month of July but remained at a very high level. And the total volumes over the past eight months indicate a sharp increase in the role of Belarusian refineries in supplying the Russian fuel market.
In Latvia, Foreign Minister Baiba Braže met with U.S. Special Envoy for Belarus John Cole on September 17. According to LSM English, the parties discussed ways to counter and prevent the Belarusian regime from using migration as a tool of pressure.
