Russian Foreign Minister Vows Consequences Against UK; Putin Deploys National Guard

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared that the proudly announced direct involvement of British missile forces in strikes on Russian territory can be treated as participation.

This statement follows President Vladimir Putin's deployment of Russia's National Guard to gas stations. The deployment comes as the country's fuel crisis leads to street brawls and public outrage. Fuel and diesel are available at roughly 28 percent of gas stations nationwide, according to a local monitoring site. Five individuals were detained in Volgograd after filming a public appeal regarding the fuel shortage, and another man was detained and fined in Perm for planning a public protest.

Ukraine's attacks on Russian energy infrastructure have caused massive gas shortages in recent weeks, with long-range drone strikes hitting oil refineries. The shortage has spread to at least 78 of Russia's 83 regions, affecting some 50 million people. Putin stated in mid-July that the situation will gradually improve, weeks after admitting Ukraine's attacks resulted in a certain shortage of fuel.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak offered an upbeat assessment later that month, saying the balance is now better, and the situation at gas stations is better. In August alone, Ukraine's drones struck nearly a third of Russia's major oil refineries. Russians perceive the West as a greater threat than their authoritarian government. The liberal Yabloko party was dropped from the ballot for next month's Duma elections. Russia's major state-run bank VEB fired its chief economist Andrey Klepach for making dark predictions about the country's future.