On Sunday morning, June 21, Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed administrator of Crimea, sent a very clear message on social media: "Dear residents of Crimea, from nine o'clock fuel sales at gas stations will be suspended - regardless of whether you pay in cash, by card or with vouchers. This applies to both private individuals and legal entities". In the days before this, fueling limits had been introduced on the Russian-occupied peninsula, and long queues were forming at gas stations.
Ukraine strikes in many directions
Meanwhile, the uncertain fuel situation is also being felt in deliveries to supermarkets, a local resident told the German public broadcaster ARD. "I was at the store today and heard that there are restrictions on oil, sugar, rice and buckwheat. There must be a reason", she says.
The authorities are also imposing other restrictions - summer children's camps on the peninsula, for example, have been canceled, officially for security reasons. The local resident, who spoke to ARD TV, says that no other information is being provided. And she doesn't know how things will go from here.
The reason for all this: Ukrainian drone attacks. For weeks, the Ukrainian army has been increasingly attacking Crimea's energy infrastructure. Drones are hitting oil facilities and fuel depots that also serve to supply Russian troops.
The land connection between Russia and Crimea, which runs through the occupied Ukrainian regions, is also increasingly becoming a target of attacks. Based on publicly available data, analysts have already verified over 250 Ukrainian attacks - for example, against Russian fuel tankers or against military vehicles.
Complete isolation of Crimea?
Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has already spoken about the complete isolation of Crimea and the transformation of the peninsula into an "island".
In recent days, Ukraine has continued its attacks on Russia's logistical links with Crimea. All three main bridges in the northern part of the peninsula, which connect Crimea with the Russian-occupied part of the Kherson region, have been seriously damaged and are now impassable. The Russians are trying to replace the damaged crossings either with pontoon bridges or by building temporary dikes that can be used by lighter trucks, but both solutions lead to significant logistical difficulties.
On June 20 and 21, Ukraine successfully struck targets on both sides of the Crimean Bridge, which shows that this bridge is also fully within its reach and that Russia is unable to repel such attacks. A ferry connecting Crimea with mainland Russia was also hit by the Ukrainian strikes, and has now been taken out of service.
On the night of June 23, the railway bridge across the North Crimean Canal was also hit. It has now been completely destroyed, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) said. The Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SOF) released a video of the strike.
"This railway bridge was a strategic military-logistical artery of the occupiers. The facility was part of a transport corridor for moving cargo, resources and military equipment in two key directions: from the territory of Russia through Crimea - to provide the grouping of troops in the southern direction, as well as inside the peninsula - to maintain the functioning of the Crimean military infrastructure, "the message under the video says. Representatives of the Russian Federation did not comment on the Ukrainian statements.
As the German public television CDF writes, as a result of all this, Crimea is practically cut off from the mainland of Russia. In addition to the fact that the sale of fuel has now been completely stopped, rotational power outages have also been introduced due to the shortage of electricity. German media indicate that a mass exodus of tourists and civilians has begun on the peninsula: people are trying to leave the area while this is still possible.
Author: Frederik Rotter (ARD)