By Jekaterina Golubkova
July 3 (Reuters) - The Russian city of Novorossiysk said on Friday it had suspended gasoline sales to private motorists, and the Black Sea resort of Anapa said Cossacks were helping prevent conflicts at petrol stations as a fuel crisis worsened following Ukrainian attacks.
Long queues of cars now snake back at petrol stations across Russia as drivers feel the impact of Ukrainian strikes on energy infrastructure intended to pressure Russia into making peace after more than four years of war.
The attacks, following Russia's pounding of Ukrainian power facilities, have forced the world's third-biggest oil producer to import gasoline from as far away as India and led to limits being imposed on how much motorists can buy in some areas and other steps to manage shortages.
Announcing the halt to gasoline sales to private motorists in Novorossiysk, Russia's largest Black Sea outlet for exporting oil, authorities said so-called fuel cards were being issued for fuel purchases to municipal services, firms and businessmen.
Diesel remained available at eight filling stations, the authorities said.
In a sign of concern that tempers will boil over in Anapa, a popular holiday destination in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar, the city's administration said on Telegram that Cossacks were helping keep order as cars line up for fuel.
"They regulate traffic flow, prevent conflicts and attempts to fill petrol cans with fuel, and ensure that the queue is maintained in an orderly manner," said the post published late on Thursday.
Cossacks are a historic military and social community known for their distinctive uniforms and fur hats. By tradition, Cossacks protected Russia's borderlands but have been used at times in recent years to back up the police.
LIMITS ON PETROL PURCHASES
Like other places in Russia and parts of Russian-occupied Ukraine, Anapa restricts drivers to buying 20 litres of gasoline per car, which a resident, Aleksandra Nesterenko, told a local TV station was enough for about a week.
The changes have helped trim waiting times to 30 to 40 minutes from up to four hours, Arsen Melkumyan, an administration official, said in the video.
Anatoly Kasyanov, wearing a khaki uniform and a traditional fur hat, said in the video the Cossacks were "helping people navigate at the petrol station and preventing conflicts."
Anapa is one of the most crowded resorts in the Krasnodar region, where energy infrastructure is a frequent target of Kyiv's air attacks.
Police in Krasnodar said they had detained two men after 1,000 litres of AI-95 gasoline was found in their car and that they were suspected of re-selling the fuel at a higher price.
On Thursday, Russia allowed refiners to produce gasoline and diesel with higher sulphur content for six months until the end of the year, a government decree showed, adding to other measures taken to ease the fuel crisis that has spread to Russia's eastern borders.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has proposed peace talks several times with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Putin has rejected the proposals and Russia has pressed on with the full-scale invasion it began in 2022.
Both sides exchange attacks nearly daily, and on Thursday Russia launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at Ukraine's capital Kyiv, killing at least 30 people.
(Reporting by Jekaterīna Golubkova in Tokyo; Editing by Tom Hogue and Timothy Heritage)
