Russian-backed authorities in annexed Crimea have suspended all public fuel sales after a severe shortage worsened by Ukrainian strikes on supply routes. Crimea governor Sergei Aksyonov said gas stations will now sell fuel only to government bodies responsible for the peninsula’s “functioning and security,” while private citizens and businesses are barred from buying it.
Aksyonov said the shortage intensified after attacks on Russian-controlled logistics. He also reported that four people were killed and 28 were wounded in an overnight Ukrainian drone strike on an oil depot in Kerch. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack a “just response to Russia’s brutal attacks.” He said Ukraine also struck an oil transport logistics facility in Krasnodar region near Crimea, where local officials reported one passenger ferry worker was killed. Zelensky added that military logistics sites and radar systems were also hit, without naming their locations, and wrote on X that “Russia only understands force, and our long-term force is definitely working for peace.”
The Russian Defense Ministry said 239 Ukrainian drones were intercepted overnight. Crimea remains strategically important to Russia as a launch point for attacks on Ukraine, and it is also a popular summer destination for Russian tourists, some of whom have recently reported fuel shortages on their way home.
The BBC and Reuters said both sides have intensified strikes in recent months as ceasefire efforts remain stalled more than four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Kyiv says it is trying to hit Moscow’s energy revenues, weaken Russia’s war effort, and increase public pressure on Vladimir Putin, but there are no signs he is ready for talks after rejecting Zelensky’s request for an in-person meeting in early June.
