Fuel Shortage First Soviet-Style Deficit in Post-Soviet Russia, ‘Agents’ Portal Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 3 – Since the end of the Soviet Union, Russia has faced a variety of deficits; but “never in post-Soviet history has this led to a situation in which the entire country has faced what is has in the last two weeks,” the Agents portal says, the return of a deficit in Soviet form “with coupons, hours’ long queues, privileges for elites, and attacks on dealers.”

            Consequently, this crisis reminds Russians not only of what they overcame when the USSR disappeared but also of what the Putin regime with its war in Ukraine has brought back (agents.media/toplivnyj-krizis-vernul-v-rossiyu-defitsit-v-tom-vide-kak-on-byl-v-sssr-s-ocheredyami-talonami-spetspajkami-i-presledovaniem-perekupshhikov/).

            Those two factors alone make the current crisis more serious and likely more consequential than any Russians have suffered since the last days of the Soviet Union; and because of that, the current deficits in fuel are likely to have political consequences however much the Putin regime tries to defend itself against.