Residents of Russia have been searching far more often online for information on how to siphon gasoline, according to the outlet Verstka. The publication says its journalists reached that conclusion after analyzing data from Google Trends and Yandex Wordstat.
According to those figures, the number of such searches has risen by more than tenfold over the past three months. In late March, Yandex users searched for such instructions an average of about 4,000 times a week. Last week, that figure climbed to nearly 44,000.
Google’s data also indicates growing interest. In March, the level of interest in Russia for that query stood at 8-10 points. Last week it rose to 43 points, and in the current week, which has only just begun, it had already reached 100 points, the maximum value.
Against that backdrop, the report says, social media users in Russia have been posting complaints that unknown people siphoned gasoline from their cars or from vehicles belonging to people they know. Some of those incidents have been captured on video.
The outlet writes that a fuel crisis has begun in a number of Russian regions after strikes by Ukrainian drones on oil refineries and oil depots. Because of gasoline shortages, gas stations introduced restrictions on fuel sales.
In response, some residents are reportedly trying to find ways around those limits. According to the publication, some say they fill up at a gas station, drive away, drain the gasoline into containers, and then return to refuel again.
At the same time, in many modern cars it is difficult to siphon gasoline from the tank because of the design of the fuel system or built-in protective mechanisms.