Fuel stations across Crimea reported being out of petrol as Ukrainian drone attacks escalated, disrupting supply lines. Sevastopol suspended fuel distribution due to blocked routes, with rationing already in place.
The escalating Ukrainian drone campaign against Russian supply lines is directly impacting fuel availability in Crimea, potentially affecting military operations and civilian life on the annexed peninsula. This highlights Ukraine's growing capability to disrupt Russian logistics deep within occupied territories.
Fuel stations across the Russian-held Crimean peninsula were reported to be out of petrol as a Ukrainian campaign against supply lines to the peninsula escalates. Reuters witnesses in Sevastopol, the peninsula's largest city, observed that most local petrol stations had no fuel, struggling to meet demand even under a rationing regime imposed in recent weeks. In Yevpatoriya, a queue formed outside the sole working petrol station.
Ukraine has intensified drone strikes on supply routes to Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. Local authorities have implemented fuel rationing, and some foodstuffs are also reportedly running short. Russian-backed Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhaev stated that plans for distributing rationed petrol were delayed because trucks could not bring fuel into the city following recent Ukrainian strikes on supply routes. Fuel is primarily delivered to Crimea via road and rail through Russian-held territories to the north, routes increasingly disrupted by drone attacks. Previously, fuel reached Crimea by barge to an oil terminal in Feodosia, but supplies ceased after Ukraine struck the terminal in April.
In Sevastopol, the Moscow-installed governor reported light overnight damage from Ukrainian drones, with 33 downed. The governor of the Moscow-held part of Kherson region noted that Ukraine targeted bridges in the region, causing some damage. Kyiv also reportedly struck southern Russia overnight, causing damage including a fire at the Afipsky oil refinery.