Jalopnik reports that Russia's fuel shortage has become so severe that authorities are considering using standard automotive gasoline in aircraft, a move that could prove catastrophic.

Russia is reportedly considering using ordinary automotive petrol in aircraft because its aviation fuel supplies have run so low. According to Jalopnik, the country's authorities are looking at substituting lower octane car gasoline for proper aviation fuel, a decision that carries enormous safety risks.

The difference between what goes in your car and what keeps a plane airborne is not trivial. Aviation gasoline, or avgas, typically carries an octane rating of 100 or 100LL, the LL standing for low lead. Your standard pump petrol sits somewhere between 87 and 93 octane. That gap exists for a reason. Aircraft engines operate under extreme conditions, at altitude, where temperature and pressure swings demand fuel stability that automotive petrol simply cannot provide.

Beyond the octane numbers, avgas contains specific additives engineered for high altitude performance and temperature stability. These are not optional extras. They prevent vapour lock, maintain consistent combustion, and keep engines running smoothly when conditions would make ordinary fuel unusable. Automotive gasoline lacks these protections entirely.

Using car fuel in an aircraft engine designed for avgas invites engine knocking, pre-detonation, and in the worst cases, catastrophic engine failure. This is not a theoretical risk. It is a near certainty if sustained. Russia operates a substantial fleet of small aircraft and helicopters across its vast territory, for both civilian transport and military operations. The implications of widespread fuel substitution across that fleet are grim.

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The situation points to severe strain in Russia's fuel production and distribution networks. Western sanctions have targeted refined petroleum products and technology transfers. Ukrainian drone strikes have hit domestic refining capacity repeatedly throughout 2023 and 2024. Those pressures are now forcing choices that compromise basic safety standards.

History offers uncomfortable parallels. During the Second World War, Axis powers facing petroleum shortages turned to synthetic fuels and desperate substitutions. Venezuela, despite being an oil producing nation, saw fuel shortages in 2019 and 2020 that grounded domestic flights. Cuba endured severe aviation fuel rationing during the Special Period in the 1990s after the Soviet collapse. Iran has struggled to adapt its aviation sector under international sanctions. None of these situations ended well for the aviation industries involved.

What makes this different is the scale and the stakes. Russia's landmass depends on aviation for connectivity in ways few other nations do. Remote communities, medical evacuations, cargo transport, all rely on aircraft that need proper fuel to function safely. Cutting corners on avgas is not like skimping on office supplies. It is a gamble with lives.

The fact that this option is even under consideration suggests the fuel crisis has moved beyond inconvenience into something more desperate. When a nation starts weighing whether to put the wrong fuel in planes rather than ground them, the underlying systems are failing badly. This is not a temporary shortage being managed with stockpiles and rationing. This is a supply chain breakdown severe enough that dangerous alternatives look preferable to no flights at all.

Russia has not officially confirmed the reports, and it remains unclear whether any such substitution has actually begun or remains under consideration. But the story itself, credible enough to warrant reporting, reveals how far the pressures on Russian infrastructure have progressed. You do not float the idea of using car petrol in aircraft unless the situation has become dire.

Source: Jalopnik