Russian-backed authorities in occupied Crimea have cut off civilian access to fuel entirely, reserving all remaining supply for state agencies after a wave of Ukrainian strikes deepened an already critical shortage on the peninsula.
Sergey Aksyonov, Moscow’s installed governor for Crimea, announced Sunday morning that all petrol stations on the peninsula would halt sales to private individuals and businesses from that point forward, regardless of payment method. Only government agencies responsible for maintaining the “functioning and security” of Crimea would be permitted to purchase fuel.
The blanket suspension is the sharpest restriction yet in a months-long squeeze. Ukrainian strikes have repeatedly hit oil depots, refineries, ports and supply routes feeding the peninsula, producing long queues at petrol stations in recent weeks. Some Russian tourists visiting Crimea, a historically popular summer destination, have reportedly been unable to find enough petrol to make it home.
A Ukrainian drone strike on an oil depot in the eastern Crimean city of Kerch overnight killed four people and injured 28 others, according to Aksyonov. President Volodymyr Zelensky called it a “just response to Russia’s brutal attacks” and confirmed that Ukrainian forces had also struck a maritime logistics facility used for oil transport in Russia’s Krasnodar region, which lies on the far side of the Kerch Strait.
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Local authorities there said one person was killed on a passenger ferry. Zelensky added that the overnight operation also targeted military logistics infrastructure and radar installations, without specifying locations.
Ukraine’s defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, has framed the campaign in blunt terms. “Logistics are being cut off,” he said. “It looks like, in the near future, Crimea will turn into an island. This could lead to some very unexpected consequences for the Russians.”
Cutting fuel infrastructure serves a dual purpose for Kyiv. It aims to drain the revenue and supplies sustaining Russia’s military while maximising disruption for ordinary Russians, in hopes of pushing Putin toward negotiations. Russia’s defence ministry said 239 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight.
