Harvest in Russia disrupted by fuel shortage: harvesting rates have fallen by almost third, - intelligence
Russia entered the 2026 harvest season facing an acute shortage of diesel fuel, as a result of which the pace of harvesting is almost three times slower than last year’s. The problem has hit the country’s southern regions hardest, where crop losses are already being forecast.
According to Censor.NET, this has been reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.
The harvest has slowed down sharply
According to the State Fuel and Energy Regulatory Agency, the most acute shortage of diesel fuel is being observed in the Krasnodar and Stavropol Krais, the Rostov region, as well as in the Lipetsk, Voronezh, Tambov and Sverdlovsk regions, Yakutia and Bashkortostan.
As of 1 July, only 1.3–1.5 million hectares of crops had been harvested in Russia, whereas on the same date in 2025, the figure stood at 4.2–4.6 million hectares.
At the same time, Dmitry Patrushev, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, publicly denied that there were any systemic problems with the harvest, but did not provide any official figures on the pace of the harvest.
Farmers are already forecasting losses
The report notes that the fuel crisis has coincided with a reduction in the area under cultivation. This year, the area sown with spring crops was 11.3 per cent smaller, and that sown with winter crops was 7.4 per cent smaller than last year.
Due to a shortage of diesel, farmers risk missing the optimal harvest window. Once the grain has ripened, there are only 7–10 days to harvest it; after that, the grain begins to fall from the ears, and rain could bring machinery operations to a complete standstill.
According to estimates by representatives of the agricultural sector in the Rostov Region, potential crop losses due to delays are already running at around 15 per cent.
Diesel is being sold subject to quotas
The State Security Service reports that queues are forming at Russian petrol stations, and sales of diesel fuel are being strictly limited – to between 20 and 200 litres per customer. In many cases, filling up tanks or other containers is prohibited altogether.
By way of comparison, a single combine harvester consumes up to 300 litres of diesel per shift, so the limits set are not even enough for a single full working day.
The situation remains particularly difficult in remote regions. In Yakutia, for example, farmers are forced to travel 200–300 kilometres just to buy 200 litres of fuel.
