 Russia requests 100,000 tons of gasoline from Kazakhstan amid refinery attacks. Russia has asked Kazakhstan to supply it with 100,000 tons of gasoline in anticipation of a potential shortage which may worsen due to Ukraine's drone strike campaign, Reuters reported citing three industry sources. According to the report, one source stated that the use of Kazakhstan's strategic gasoline reserves to shore up domestic Russian market had already been agreed upon. At the same time, an advisor to the Kazakh energy minister, Shingis Ilyasov noted that his department had not received any such request from Moscow. The Russian Ministry of Energy has declined to comment on the matter. In recent weeks, Ukrainian drone strikes have disrupted at least 10% of Russia's refinery capacity. The UK Defence Ministry said on March 23rd and has forced Russia to impose a six-month gasoline export ban that began on March 1st to avoid acute shortages. The increased attacks against oil refineries have caught the attention of the United States, who warned Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries allegedly out of concern that strikes could raise global oil prices and increase the risk of further retaliation. The Financial Times reported Ukraine continues to maintain that targeting Russian energy infrastructure is an legitimate military strategy. We used our drones, nobody can say to us you can't. Zelensky told the Washington Post on March 30th, emphasizing that Washington could not limit Ukraine's use of its own weapons. Fossil fuels are the primary drivers of the Russian economy and the main source of revenue for the Kremlin's war machine. Despite Russia's gasoline export ban, the country continues to supply countries in Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union, including Kazakhstan. Amid chronic gasoline shortages, Kazakhstan itself restricted fuel exports until the end of 2024. The country's oil refineries are the primary drivers of the Russian economy and the main source of revenue for the Kremlin's oil refineries are the main source of revenue for the Kremlin. Thousands of ex-Vargana fighters to join Chechen Ramzan Kadyrov, the Akhmat Special Forces Unit from the Chechen Republic, will absorb 3,000 ex-Vargana Private Military Company fighters the regional head Ramzan Kadyrov has announced. A renowned Vargana commander with the call sign Ratibor will also join the elite Chechen unit. After now deceased Vargana chief Yevgeny Prigoshin's failed mutiny attempt in June 2023, the Russian authorities gave the groups members the choice of either signing contracts with the Defense Ministry or moving to Belarus in a post on his Telegram channel. Kadyrov wrote that Russia's Defense Ministry had already allocated the necessary number of vacancies to accommodate the newcomers in Akhmat. He added that arrangements and formalities will be sorted out in the near future and the ex-Vargana fighters will soon see action. The Chechen leader hailed the fighters as experienced and very effective warriors who have proven their mettle in Ukraine. He described the incorporation of such troops into Akhmat as a strategically important step toward beefing up the country's defense capabilities. We are united by a single purpose to defend the motherland and its interests. I am convinced that this decision will very soon have a considerable impact on the way the special military operation progresses. Kadyrov concluded in February the commander of Akhmat Abti Alodinov told the Russian media that there were three separate units composed of former Vargana private military company fighters in his detachment. Akhmat is a part of the Russian National Guard, which is an internal military force that reports directly to the president and the head of the National Security Council. The Vargana group played a key role in seizing the city of Bakhmut in Donbas last May.